Devil's Breath
by wildbats
Summary: GREG, NICK and GRISSOM work a series of murders by a crazed killer who lures single men with her looks, tortures them and then uses a powerful drug to end their lives. A CSI becomes the next victim, will he live and will they catch her? non-slash
1. Dangerous Beauty

**A/N-Okay here is my newest story. It is going to be a very intense story, that is why it is rated M. It is Greg-centric as all my stories are, with a big focus on Nick and Grissom too. I have pretty much written the whole thing just not typed it all out. I got the idea for this story from some stories I heard on CNN about the drug nicknamed "Devil's Breath", hence the name of the story. **** I hope you will leave feedback as I love it.**

* * *

She smiled as she watched him squirm for his freedom. His wrists were rubbed raw and bloody from fighting against his restraints. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his head and petted him like a dog.

"Get your hands off me, you crazy bitch," he spat at her.

She made a fist in his blonde hair and yanked his head back, so he was forced to look at her. His green eyes stared up at her in fear. "There, there my pet. You do not want to make me mad again. You know what happens when you make me mad." She ran her hand over his bare chest that was covered in welts and dried blood. The man shivered under her touch.

"I hate you," the man seethed.

She shook her head. "No, don't say that. It hurts me when you say that and when I hurt it makes me want to take it out on you. You did not want to end up like my last one, do you? I can make you happy if you just cooperate."  
He stared up at the hazel eyes that belonged to the woman he now knew only as "Love." She always had that unhinged look in her eyes that made him feel like death might be a better option. "I just want to go home," he said to her in a slightly shaky voice.

She smiled at him again with that eerie look. "You like to whine a lot, you know that? It's getting on my nerves. I am sure I can find better." She let go of his hair and got up. She walked towards a black metal trunk. His eyes went wide with fear as she opened the trunk and looked for the item she sought.

When she turned around and he saw what she held in her hand he panicked. "No, no! I'll stop whining. I'll do whatever you want," he begged.

She just smiled sinisterly at him. "I'm sure you will, my pet," she said as she advanced towards him pulling a surgical mask over her face. He tried to turn away from her but was not able to avoid her blowing the powder in his face.

--

They looked down at the naked male body. "Second one we found like this in a month now," David Philips said to Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders as he examined the body.

"What's TOD, Super Dave?" Nick asked the assistant coroner of Clark County, Nevada.

"He's been dead about 14 hours. We are ready to take him back to the lab."

Greg snapped a few more photos of the body before Dave and his assistant put the body on a stretcher. As they took the body away, Greg turned to Nick. "So it looks like we might have a serial killer on the loose."

Nick nodded to him. "Looks like it. Body left in same area as last one was and also left in almost same condition. Someone is really taking it out on these guys and not leaving much in evidence behind either."

"Well we will have to wait until tox screen comes back on him to see if he has Scopolamine in his system too, then we know we are dealing with the same person," Greg said as he snapped a few more photos of the scene.

Nick shined his flashlight around the alley in which the body was found. It was off-strip and located behind a strip club. A stripper going out back for a smoke came across the body when she smelled something from behind some cardboard boxes.

Detective Vega came out to meet with the CSI's. "Hey guys. I just finished talking with Candy Cane aka Candice Keystone. She's the one who found the body. She's never seen the guy before. She tells me she knows all the regulars who come here and he is not one. I'll check into missing persons to see if anyone reported him missing and maybe we can ID him." He walked off to his car and left the CSI's to finish processing the scene.

"There's no cameras in this alleyway. The person who did the body dump probably knew that too," Nick said to Greg as he looked around the area.

"Yeah just like the last one that was dumped not too far from here. The killer must know this area fairly well."

"Well, we are not going to find much else here. Let's go back to the lab and see if Doc Robbins has any news on our victim."

Nick and Greg put their cases and the little bit of evidence they collected in the back of the Denali and headed back to the lab.

"Have you had any hot dates lately?" Nick asked Greg as he drove.

Greg frowned at Nick. "Hell no, been working too much, hard to meet anyone when you have been doing nothing but working and sleeping. All work and no play is making Greg a dull boy."

Nick chuckled. "You have to try to get out some more, man. I got lucky meeting Vicki like I did. Now we've been dating like 2 months. We see each other as much as we can which is not a whole lot, but she is a patient woman."

"Yeah lucky for you. At least when I was in the lab I had more time, lately it just seems impossible."

Nick smiled. "You got to make time for love, Greg." Greg rolled his eyes at Nick.

"You are about to make me sick with that talk, Nick." Nick just laughed at him.

When they got back to the lab, after they dropped off a few items for Hodges in trace lab, they went to the see Doc Robbins.

"Hey Nick, Greg, looks like you are right that this guy was killed by the same person who killed your last male victim. The lacerations and welts on his body are similar to the last guy. Looks to be made by some sort of braided whip and look at these marks." Doc Robbins pointed to some oval linked like markings on his back.

"Looks like he was hit with a chain or something," Nick said as he examined the marks more closely and took photos of the marks.

"Also scratch marks on his chest and face like the last victim, no defensive wounds though. Wrists were tied up with rope by the looks of the ligatures on them. Evidence of rectal tearing and penile fracture also like the last victim had. COD is still pending on tox results."

Greg shook his head in disgust. "That is messed up. We need to find this person who is doing this."

"Kind of hard with little evidence left by our killer," Nick said to him. "Let's see if Mandy found out who our guy is by his fingerprints. See you later Doc. Let us know if you find anything else out we should know about."

Nick and Greg walked into the print lab where Mandy sat in front of her computer screen. She looked up as she heard them come in. "Hey you two, I got a hit on your victim. His name is Jeffrey Parker from Summerlin. He was once picked up on a DUI. I've passed on the information to Detective Vega already. He's getting in touch with the man's next of kin. So is it true there might be a serial killer out there again?"

Greg looked to Nick then responded to Mandy. "It looks like it at this point. Our last two victims have almost identical types of marks on their bodies and found in same manner."

"Once we get toxicology results back from Henry we will be able to know for sure." Nick said to her. "Thanks for the quick work. We'll be in touch."

Nick and Greg went to the layout room and spread out the photos of their two victims on the table. Grissom came in as they were comparing notes.

"Henry gave me your tox results on your latest victim. High dosage of Scopolamine was found in his blood. So we have someone very dangerous out there. This drug is rarely used for stuff like this and hard to find easily in large powder doses in the U.S. This person probably has connections somewhere in South America where this drug has become more popular. This means we need to see if your current victim's checking account was cleaned out." Grissom said to them.

"Well Mandy just got an ID on our latest victim. She said Vega was working on contacting next of kin and getting more information about him. So we will let him know about the presence of the Scopolamine and then we can check on his stuff," Nick suggested to Grissom.

A couple hours passed before they were able to meet Vega at Jeffrey Parker's condo.

"Jeffrey Parker was a financial advisor. His co-workers last saw him 4 days ago. He had been reported missing after he did not call into work for 2 days and no one could get a hold of him. I am waiting for his checking account records to see if he made any withdrawals in the last 4 days," Vega told Greg and Nick.

The two CSI's walked into the condo and started examining to see if anything was stolen. After an hour of casing his condo, they could find nothing out of place. His bed was not even slept in.

"Hey guys. There was a withdrawal from his checking account 4 days ago, at the First National Bank branch ATM on North Nellis Boulevard. The withdrawal was at 4:13 am in the amount of 500. Then another was made at the First National Bank branch ATM on East Owens Ave, only about 3 miles from the other one. That was made at 4:47 am and for 800. We are getting the security camera footage from both. Did you find anything missing here?" Vega asked them after he filled them in on the ATM withdrawals.

"No, nothing looks out of place from what we can tell. Same as the last guy too. Only made the cash withdrawals and then had their fun with the victim it looks like." Nick said to Vega.

"Well, let's head back to the lab and wait on that security camera footage and see if our killer shows his face this time around," Greg said to Nick.

She sat on the barstool, twirling her hair in between her long fingers. She sipped on her drink as she waited for someone to make a move on her. So far she had been lucky, she had not needed to make the first move. They always came to her. Men always wanted her, all her life so much so she grew to hate them until she discovered how to have her way with them and make them pay for all the pain she had been put through at the hands of men.

She smiled as a handsome black haired man with icy blue eyes sat on the empty barstool next to her. "Hi there. Looks like you could use some company this evening," he said to her in a Southern drawl.

She batted her long lashes at him, giving him a coy look. "I could use some company."

He smiled at her and got the bartender to order her another drink on his tab. Then he turned his attention back to her. "So you come here often?"

She giggled at the horrible line that he came up with, such a typical male. She was getting sick of the typical male type like him but would stick it out with this guy this time around since he came to her.

When the bartender served up their drinks, she suggested they take a quiet table in the corner so they could get to know each other better. He practically drooled at the invitation to be alone with this beautiful brunette.

Once they were comfortably seated at a corner table for little to see them, so fingered the little packet in her pocket. She let him start kissing her. As he was busy nibbling down her neck, she took the powdery substance in the packet and emptied it into his drink. When she was satisfied, so pulled away briefly to get a sip of her own drink. She smiled brightly as she watched him down his drink.

"So what do you do for a living?" She asked him while he was still cognitive.

He blinked a little, starting to feel a bit weird but answered. "I work in the Tangiers in the casino."

"Do you live close by here?"

"Not too far." He said but was starting to feel like a bit woozy.

"Are you okay? Maybe I should take you home. You do not look so good," She said coyly, knowing perfectly well what was happening to him.

"Yeah that might be a good idea." She helped him up and walked out with him to his red Mustang.

"Nice car. I bet you make good money at the Casino." She said to him as she helped him into his car in the passenger seat.

"Yeah it pays well." She studied his eyes a moment and smiled when she knew the drug had taken its affect.

"Good, let's see how well." She said as she got in the car with him and locked the doors.

* * *


	2. Wrong Assumptions

Chapter 2-Devil's Breath

Archie had gone over all the video footage supplied by the banks for the ATM's and in the footage the only person's face they could see was Jeffrey Parker's. They could see another person in the passenger seat but they kept their face turned away and wore a hat. So they were no closer to finding out who the killer was by the video footage.

A couple days had passed by with no new evidence that might tell them who their killer was. They knew they were looking at the same person for both of their male victims but they had no idea what kind of person they were dealing with on the murders. They knew their victims were all single men who had both last been seen at their workplace. They were not sure where they were taken. It did not look like from their homes since both were untouched. Their only guess was that they were taken from some more public location.

Nick and Greg were going back over the case files when Grissom came into the break room where they sat. "Hey guys. Looks like our killer may have struck again, although the victim is not dead, yet."

Nick and Greg both looked at each other shocked. "What? What do you mean?"

"Victim was found in an alley behind the Voodoo Lounge on West Sahara Ave. Victim appeared dead upon arrival but paramedics were able to get a pulse. He is at Desert Palms right now. But I need you two to go out to where he was found and process the scene. I know the victim is not conscious right now so we cannot talk to him anyway yet."

Nick and Greg quickly grabbed their kits and got to their Denali.

"Wow, let's hope this guy makes it. This might be our big break on finding out who did this," Greg said excitedly as they pulled up to the scene.

"Well the killer messed up or purposely left this guy to live. We will have to wait and see exactly what the case is. For now, let's see if our person left anything behind for us to find." Nick turned off the engine on the Denali and got out, joining Greg who had his camera ready to take photos.

They canvassed over the scene thoroughly but again came up with little that would most likely be linked back to the killer, so they headed back to the lab with little evidence again. When they got there Grissom found them.

"Hey guys, looks like our guy did not make it. He died about 30 minutes ago. Looks like the dose of the drug took its toll on this guy and his heart finally gave out."

Greg and Nick both looked dejected. They had really hoped this was their break on this case.

"Did you find anything at the scene that might help us out?" Grissom asked them.

"No, nothing useful. Whoever this person is cleans up well after their self. We are not any closer to figuring out who this person is than we were before." Nick told Grissom disheartened.

"One of these days this killer will mess up and leave something for us," Grissom said to him.

"Yeah but how many more men have to die before they mess up?" Greg asked.

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "We can only hope it is soon."

--

She sat next to her latest pet. He slept after she took advantage of him under the influence of the drug. She traced her fingernail down his chest. He was not muscular like the past two men but that did not matter to her. He had once again come on to her after she kept eyeing him at the bar. It was too easy for her. It was like a spider drawing a fly into her web.

She liked this guy more than the others. He was nicer and obeyed a lot better than the others had. Sometimes the drug had different affects on the men. Some fought it better than others but most did not remember the details of what she put them through. They just knew by the pain they were in what they might have been through. Then when she was ready she informed them exactly of what she did to them. They all would look at her with disgust and horror but she did not feel any pity usually. After what the man in her life had put her through for years, it was time to get some payback. It was just a shame the man who put her through hell were already dead. But she was always able to picture him in her victims.

As she was in deep thought her latest victim opened his eyes. He jerked back from her when he realized who she was. He tried to move away only to be restrained by the ropes that bound his wrists to a metal bar on the wall.

She smiled at him, but unlike the sweet looking smile she had given him at the bar, this one was filled with malicious intent. The longhaired wig was gone and now the woman who sat beside him had shortly cropped dark hair in which allowed a long scar along the left side of her head to be seen. "Don't be scared. If you cooperate I will not hurt you too much."

He narrowed his eyes at her, unsure if he should speak or not. "I've heard about you on the news. You are the psycho that has been killing men, only they have no idea who you are."

She sighed and stood up and started walking away from him. "Yes, it is true and you are my next victim. That is shame for you. I can make it easier for you if you just cooperate. My last victim almost lived, perhaps you could be unlucky and be the first one to live." She reached into her black metal trunk and pulled out two items. She turned back and came towards him. She had a surgical mask around her neck. She knelt down next to him. She opened a small packet that held a powder in it.

"They call this the Devil's Breath. Inhale enough and it can kill you. Time to see how much you can handle." She held the substance in the palm of her hand and blew it into his face. She quickly put her mask on to avoid inhaling it herself. She watched as he started to cough from inhaling the powder.

"It can take awhile to have its full effect, but in the meantime you will help me finish you off."

--

"The victims are being dumped all in the same 4 mile radius, but it is not near where the victims live, so I would assume these drop locations are near where our killer may live," Greg pointed out on the city map that was on the table in front of them.

"That's a good assumption, but there is not a whole lot of residential area near there," Nick said as he studied the map carefully.

"Well, there are a lot of older buildings in that area. Some had apartments on the upper floors plus there are a lot of abandoned buildings in that area too. Maybe our killer is using one of those buildings," Greg suggested with a shrug.

"There are a lot of places to check in that area. Maybe we should see if any of the active businesses in the area have security cameras and have maybe seen some suspicious activity going on, mostly like a body being dragged around." Nick looked to Grissom, who had been listening intensely to the ideas.

"It can't hurt. Get Brass and see if he can help you get a list of businesses near our drop areas that have cameras. Maybe we will get lucky that way," Grissom told his CSI's.

"We'll get on it right away." Nick paged Brass since this case had become a priority with 3 murders now.

"Sure, I'll get you guys a list of businesses that have security cameras and if you need warrants, I'll help get those for you," Brass told Nick.

The next day Greg and Nick sat with Archie in the AV lab going over a couple security videos they got from a couple cooperative businesses in the area.

"So how are things going with Vicki, Nick?" Archie asked the Texan.

"We are seeing each other this afternoon. Things are going well," Nick smiled and then nudged Greg next to him. "I keep telling this guy here he needs to get out more. Since he's been a CSI he's hardly been dating."

Greg rolled his eyes at Nick.

"Yeah, I remember you always were flirting with chicks even here on the job. You've become tame, Greg," Archie teased him.

"Will you guys leave me alone? Okay I plan on going out tomorrow night since I am off, but I am not making any promises. I'll find someone when I find someone," Greg said slightly ticked off.

Nick laughed. "Okay we'll leave it be for now, but you seriously need to get laid, it's affecting your mood."

Greg narrowed his eyes at Nick. "I won't dignify that comment with a response."

Archie and Nick just laughed at Greg's expense. Greg glared at both of them. "Why don't we get back to studying these videos?" He said in a huff.

Nick bit his lip and got back to watching the video screen with Archie.

It was nearing the end of their shift when Captain Jim Brass found the two CSI's still in the AV lab. "Hey guys, we have another male victim found. He's still alive but barely. Need you two to go out to the scene and meet Grissom out there. Some homeless guy behind the old Shooters Bar found him in the same condition as the others. I'm heading to the hospital in case the guy comes to and we can ask him some questions."

Nick and Greg nodded to each other and got up. They passed Warrick and Catherine in the hallway on the way to the parking garage. "Hey were are you two headed off to so late?" Warrick asked them.

"We have another hit from our serial killer, but this victim is still alive. We have to process the scene," Nick told them.

"Dang, this guy is on a roll. How many does this make now?" Warrick asked.

"The fourth one. No telling when he will stop and we still have nothing to go on," Greg replied.

"Well good luck. Maybe this guy will live," Catherine said hopefully to them.

"We can only hope." Nick looked to Greg who nodded in agreement.

**A/N- Feel free to leave me some feedback on how you like it so far. I won't bite...I promise. :)**

* * *


	3. She's Trouble

On the drive to the scene, Greg asked Nick a thought he had been wondering about. "Why do you think our killer has dropped off the last two still alive?"

"Well, maybe he figured because the drug can take awhile to actually kill someone, they would end up dying before they talk. Happened with the last guy. Besides, usually a person can't remember anything after taking the drug. It's like date rape drugs, but unlike those, the person looses their ability of free will and can be used like a puppet and not remember a thing that they did. That's why it is so dangerous. Look how this killer has gotten them to clean out their checking accounts. I bet they have no memory of doing it. It's also nicknamed the Zombie Drug because a person basically will walk around like a Zombie when they are on it, just doing what they are told."

Greg nodded his head. "Yeah I heard about it but I guess I just did not really think about it that way. So the killer figured if the drug does not kill them, most likely they will have no memory of what happened anyway to ID them. I guess if they lived it might be better in the long run to have no memory of what hell they were put through."

"Yep, but even if you do not really remember what happened, by your injuries you would basically know what was done to you. That can be just as bad, you know it is the not really knowing that is worse."

"I suppose that is true too. It's just scary and sick what this guy is doing," Greg said.

"You know it is possible it is a woman who is doing this. We cannot rule that out," Nick said to Greg.

Greg raised his eyebrows. "Yeah I guess that is a possibility. If it is a female, she is pretty strong or had help, but then again with that drug in their system I guess the guy is more of a willing participant." Greg shook his head. "So many different possibilities and we have nothing."

Nick sighed along with Greg. "Yeah I know how you feel. I feel like we are getting nowhere. Maybe this guy will live and tell us something."

They arrived at the scene. Grissom was already on site. "I've talked to our homeless guy already. He did not see the body dumped off. He was passed out in a stupor. He stumbled over the victim as he went to leave. I have not seen much to collect in evidence but see what you two can find. I'm heading to the hospital to meet Brass and see if this guy lives."

Greg already started snapping photos of the crime scene while Nick bent down to examine the ground area where the man was found. He swabbed the blood, knowing it would be the victim's.

All the drop areas were in dirty street alleys. They would take swabs of various things, but nothing led them to the identity of their killer.

After a couple hours of being on the scene, Nick and Greg headed back to the lab.

Grissom and Brass came in a few minutes later.

"How's our vic?" Greg asked.

"He's still alive, so that is a plus. However, he is in a coma and they have no idea if or when he will come out of it," Brass sighed as he told them.

Nick frowned. "Well, at least we have hope that maybe he will come out of it, but then who knows if he will even be able to ID his attacker."

"Exactly," Brass answered.

--

With no new evidence, their latest victim still in a coma and none of the victims' vehicles being found or anyone having come forward with clues, Greg was not called in on his night off. So he decided to hit the club scene and see how well his pick up skills still worked.

He entered the Hush Nightclub around 11 pm, just as it started getting busy. He ordered himself a Rum and Coke at the bar, paid with his debit card and took a seat by the bar. As he settled down with his drink, his eyes roamed the room. There seemed to be plenty of women on the dance floor, dancing with boyfriends or husbands. The ones who seemed to be completely single tended to stay near the bar or sit at one of the many tables scattered through out the club.

As he looked around the bar, he noticed a beautiful redheaded woman who he caught looking at him. She quickly cast her eyes downward when she caught him looking at her. Greg smirked to himself as he caught her taking a quick glance his way again. He did not want to seem too needy so he ignored her for a couple minutes to see if she would make the first move. When he looked her way again, she just smiled sweetly at him, playing with the straw in her drink. She was going to make him make the first move. He resigned himself to that fact and got up and walked over to her.

"I couldn't help but notice your beautiful smile," he said casually as he sat on a stool next to her. She blushed a little.

"Thanks. You have a really great smile too," she said as she twirled a finger through her hair.

"Well thank you also. What are you drinking? I'll order you up another one," he offered to her.

"Oh thanks, I'm having a Cape Cod."

Greg got the bartender's attention and ordered them both new drinks. While they waited on their drinks, Greg decided to introduce himself to this hazel-eyed beauty. "Well, my name is Greg. And you are?" He asked as he held out his hand.

She smiled at his politeness. "Hello Greg. I am Heather." She cautiously took his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Heather," he said to her. The bartender served up their drinks and Greg paid for them with cash.

Heather took a sip of her new drink then suggested they find a table in a quieter space to get to know each other better. Greg agreed and found them a table near an exit.

They sat down and Greg started asking about what she did for a living. She told him she was an artist.

"Wow! I'd love to see your work someday," he told her hoping she would say he could.

"Sure you can. I love showing off my work. I really enjoy it, just like I enjoy your company right now." She was getting slightly annoyed at the slow pace he was moving at. All of the other men had already been all over her. Perhaps she drew in the wrong guy tonight. She needed to move it along.

He grinned at her as she snuggled closer to him. He was sensing she was wanting more now. He drew her face over to him and placed his lips on hers for a kiss. She returned the kiss greedily, hoping to start distracting him enough so she could get to his drink.

She moved her head slightly, allowing him to start kissing down her neck. She ran her left hand under his shirt as her right hand carefully poured the substance into his drink on the table to his side. Then when she was satisfied the drug was dissolved into this drink she paced both of her hands on his chest and pushed him away for a moment. She coyly took a sip of her own drink and smiled at him.

"You know you have not told me what you do for a living yet?" She asked him with a tease in her eyes.

He smiled and grabbed his drink and had a few swigs before answering. "Well, I work as a Crime Scene Investigator for the LVPD."

She almost choked on her drink as she heard what he said. She quickly recovered by acting very impressed. "Wow, so you are a cop?"

"Well, not exactly. I investigate crime scenes for evidence and look for clues to help us find who committed the crime. I use to work in the DNA lab but switched to field work." He took another swig of his drink, finishing it off.

Suddenly she was intrigued by the choice she made this evening. "That's really cool. You'll have to tell me more about that someday."

He smiled at the prospect of seeing her again. "Sure, just like I would love to see your artwork someday."

She shrugged. "How about right now? I do not live too far from here."

Greg grinned. "Sure, I would love that." Greg got up and started following her out the exit. Maybe he would get lucky that night after all.

As he walked out into the bright lights of the parking lot he started to feel a bit off. He stopped a moment thinking he only had two drinks but they were on an empty stomach, but the feel was not one he was familiar with.

She noticed he stopped in place. She turned around and looked innocently at him. "Are you feeling okay?" She came over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder to steady him.

He knew something was not right suddenly, but his mind could not wrap around what was wrong.

"Where is your car? Let me help you to it."

He pointed out his silver Volkswagen Jetta and she guided him over to it.

"Where are your keys? I'll drive you." He did not know why but he simply dug them out of his pocket and handed them over to her. "Get into the car."

He went over and got in on the passenger side. She got into the driver's seat and smiled at him. "Do you have a cell phone on you? Maybe I can call someone for you."

He hesitated a moment but then gave her his cell phone. She looked at it then turned it off. "Where's your wallet? Can I have it so I can get your address from your driver's license since you seem to be having some problems with talking all of the sudden," she said with a slight chuckle.

The chuckle triggered a sudden fear deep inside him but he could do nothing about it. He felt her dig into his back pocket and pull out his wallet.

"Oh looky here, you have your ATM/Debit Card with you too. Perhaps we will make a few stops first then I'll take you to my home and you will become my next piece of work. I'm sure doing the job you do you will be familiar with it." She smiled at him but this time he could see the malicious intent in it.

Somewhere deep inside he felt a panic surge up but his body or voice would not obey anything he tried to do. He just sat obediently in the seat next to the last person he would most likely ever see again, the person who would most likely end his life, he realized.


	4. Missing

_Missing_

Nick arrived to work early to see if there were any new developments with their latest victim who was finally identified as Mark Probst. He saw Grissom already in his office and stopped in. Grissom had just got off the phone.

"Hey Nick, glad to see you here early. We might have a witness who saw Jeffrey Parker leave a bar on the night of his disappearance with someone. He is coming in to talk to Brass down at Central. I'm going down to meet him there. When Greg gets into work go through some more of those security videos with Archie." Grissom got up and grabbed his jacket and left.

Nick headed over to Archie in AV to see if he was ready to go over the security footage yet. "Hey Nick, I got the tapes ready to go. We have a few more to check through. Do you want to start without Greg?"

"Yeah he will be here soon, I am sure."

Meanwhile down at LVPD, Brass was already getting information from the bartender who last served Jeffrey Parker his drink.

"Yeah he was hitting on this really hot babe. He bought her a drink and then they grabbed a table in the corner to make out. After a few minutes I saw them leave together. When I saw his picture on the news and heard what happened I immediately called you guys."

"You did good Mr. Conti. Can you describe this woman he left with? Also do you have any security cameras at your bar?" Brass asked him. Grissom came in and Brass quickly introduced him then let Mr. Conti continue.

"Yeah the woman was a real looker. She had long, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes. She was fairly tall, maybe 5'9" or 5'10". Never saw her in there before though. Oh and we have one camera by the entrance and by the exit out back."

"Great, we are going to need to see the footage from that night. Do you think you could ID the woman if you saw her again?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, I would never forget a face like hers. She reminded me a bit of Angelina Jolie, full lips like hers and a body to go with it."

Brass thanked him for his help and had an officer take him to go back and get the security footage from the bar.

"Could be this woman is our murderer or she is a lure for someone else," Brass suggested to Grissom as they headed back to the lab to check in on things there.

"Both are very possible. Maybe we need to go around to the bars and clubs in that area and see if any of our other vics were last seen with this female. Can you get some guys on that?" Grissom asked Brass.

"Sure, whatever we can do to catch who is doing this. I'll get started on that right away."

After Brass left, Grissom headed back to the AV lab to see how his guys were coming along and fill them in.

He walked in and only saw Nick and Archie. "Nick, where is Greg?"

Nick looked up at Grissom. "I have not seen him. I just assumed he called you and said he was going to be late."

Grissom shook his head. "I have not heard from him. Call him and see where he is. In the meantime, we might be looking for a longhaired brunette female who was last seen with Jeffrey Parker. Brass is having some officers go around to other bars in that area and showing photos of our other victims to see if they were seen with this same woman."

"Grissom, Greg is not answering his home phone and his cell phone is off. I left him a message." Nick told Grissom.

Grissom frowned. "That's odd for him. I'll give him another hour and if we don't hear from him by then, I'll have you go over to his place and see if he's there."

Brass came in a few minutes later. "We got the video from the bar that night. Mr. Conti said he thinks our guy left with this woman around 12:30 am." He gave the tape to Archie to load up into the machine.

He went through the video until they saw Jeffrey Parker walk into the bar. He entered at about 11:45pm. They kept watching the video, going through about 12:26 am when they saw him exit with the woman the bartender described.

"Zoom in on her as much as you can, Archie." Grissom instructed him.

Archie zoomed in on her. The video was a bit grainy but they got a good idea what she looked like. "She's hot. Do you think she could be our killer?" Archie asked them.

"Right now she is a person of interest. We need to try to find her and question her. Print out that screen shot of her." Brass told him. Archie did just that while Grissom took Nick out in the hall with him.

"Run over to Greg's and see where he is at and then get back here right away. Things are starting to move on this, finally."

Nick nodded and headed out to his truck. He kept trying to call Greg as he drove to his apartment. When he pulled up to his building he did not see his car there. It was running about 3 hours into their shift and no one still had heard from him. He frowned and went up to his door anyway. He had a key to Greg's place and after knocking and getting no response he opened the door. For some reason he had an eerie feeling come over him as he walked through Greg's apartment and found no signs that he had been there recently. He knew Greg was planning on going out the night before and thought maybe he hooked up with some girl and was at her place. But his gut started churning that something was not right.

He saw the message light blinking on Greg's phone. He decided to play back the message. There were two messages, the one that Nick had left and then another from his bank letting him know he was overdrawn. That threw up a red flag to Nick. He knew Greg kept good track of his finances and never had known him to be overdrawn. He immediately started going through Greg's bills on his desk. He found his checking account statement. He got on his cell phone, his nerves kicking in and called Grissom.

"Griss, it's Nick. I pray I am overreacting but Greg is nowhere to be found. I checked his messages and one was from his bank saying he was overdrawn. That's not like Greg, Grissom. I got his bank account info here. Can we see if there were any unusual transactions on his account in the last 24 hours?"  
"You're not thinking what I think you are?" Grissom asked cautiously, not liking Nick's train of thought.

"Grissom, I know he was planning on going out last night. He would fit our other victims' profiles in age, marital status and …can you just check?" Grissom could hear the tightness in Nick's voice.

"Okay, give me the information and I will have Brass check on it. If you don't see anything out of the ordinary at his place, come back here."

After Nick told him he would head back to the lab, Grissom contacted Brass about this new possible development.

"Greg's missing and you think that maybe this killer has him?" Brass' voice came through the phone sounding concerned.

"We need to find out if he had any money withdrawn from his account last night." Grissom told him.

"Okay, I will get the permission and get back to you ASAP."

Grissom went back into the AV lab but made no mention of the Greg situation. He did not want anyone else worried until they had more details.

Nick came back after ten minutes. "Hey Grissom, did you find out anything about…" Grissom quickly cut him off by shaking his head and then he motioned to Nick to follow him to his office.

Once in Grissom's office, Nick asked what was going on.

"I want to keep this quiet until we have more details."

Grissom's phone suddenly rang. "I got that approval you needed. The information should be coming into your email now."

"Thanks Jim. I'll be in touch." Grissom opened his laptop and pulled up his email. The email from Greg's bank showed there were two ATM transactions, each for 800 at two different bank locations in the 1 am hour Thursday morning, his day off. Also there was a small transaction at Hush Nightclub for 12.25 at 12:04am and then his rent check had gone through later that morning causing his overdraft.

Nick noticed Grissom's face pale a bit. "There were withdrawals last night, weren't there?" Nick asked seriously.

Grissom looked up at him, grimly. "Yes, two in the one am hour for 800 each. His rent check went through this morning causing the overdraft."

Nick shook his head, his stomach flipping over. "Greg would never withdraw all that money if he knew his rent check was about to go through. I don't like this Grissom at all."

"I know, neither do I. There was also a transaction done around midnight at the Hush Nightclub. We need to see if someone there like a bartender saw him and maybe saw if he was with anyone…maybe this woman again. Plus we will pull surveillance videos from those bank locations and see if someone else is with him in the car."

"Grissom, I've been nagging him to get out. He went out because of me. If anything happens…" Nick could not finish his thought out loud. He lowered his head and shook it.

"Don't go blaming yourself, Nick. We do not know anything for sure yet."

"Yeah but when we do, we'll probably be too late."

"All we can do is gather more information for now and get an ID on that woman."

Nick nodded and got up and left Grissom alone.

Grissom rubbed a hand over his forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. He prayed that there was some logical explanation other than what it looked like for Greg's sudden disappearance. They had to gather more information fast before it was too late.


	5. Painful Reality

**A/N-Thanks for the reviews. I am glad you all are enjoying my twisted little story. This chapter is pretty intense...poor Greg. I also have been meaning to thank my Beta Reader SlappyWhite. Thanks for all your comments and keep them coming.**

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His head started to clear up from the deep sleep he had been in. As he woke from his fog, he became painfully aware of his situation, literally. He kept his eyes closed for fear of actually seeing the damage inflicted upon him. The pain he felt through chest and backside of his body made him fully aware that his worst fears came true.

He could feel the cold of the hard ground against his naked body. His chest burned in the worst pain he ever felt. He tried to move ever so slightly then realized his hands were bound over his head to something. The little bit of movement caused him to wince in pain from his back to his rear. He still had not opened his eyes. He had not heard any other movement in the room. He did not want to see her, the woman who duped him, the woman who put him through things he was glad he could not remember, the woman who would eventually kill him.

He cracked open his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit room. It seemed like he was in a basement or cellar of some sort, the walls were concrete blocks and the ground concrete. Now he knew why he felt so cold too. He saw only a couple other items in the basement, a black metal trunk and a chair. He looked up and saw that his hands were bound tightly with rope to a metal bar bolted into the wall. He tried tugging at his restraints but immediately regretted the movement.

He closed his eyes again as a spasm of pain ran through his body. He could not bring himself to look at his injuries and acknowledge the fact that he was naked and what had happened to him. The last thing he really remembered was her driving his car with him in the passenger seat, unable to protest or anything. Unfortunately for him, unlike the others, he knew what sort of sick things happened during the blackout because of seeing their autopsies. He wished he was blissfully unaware but he knew it all too well based on where he ached with pain that he had been raped and whipped.

He felt warm tears stream down the side of his face as he wished the drug had not worn off. He jerked when he heard the door open to the basement. Still in fear, he closed his eyes, acting like he was still out of it as the person came down the staircase. He heard what sounded like the metal trunk being opened and something being pulled out of it. His heart beat faster as he heard the footsteps come closer to him. He knew his nerves would not allow him to keep up the sleeping act much longer.

He could tell she was standing right over him now. He could sense that she was sitting down or kneeling down next to him. He could hear her breathing. Then it happened, she poured something on his open chest lacerations that caused him to suddenly scream out in pain, his eyes flashing open.

He panted heavily as he could smell the rubbing alcohol that sizzled on his open wounds on his chest. He heard her start laughing and he finally turned to look at her and was shocked by her different appearance. Gone was the red hair and what replaced it was short cropped, brown hair almost reminding him of one of his former hairstyles. She wore black leather pants and a red bustier. Otherwise she was still a beautiful woman but he could no longer appreciate that beauty. All he thought of was what kind of sick person she really was hiding under that false exterior.

Something must have happened to her to make her the monster she was. Then he noticed the scar on her head. The investigator in him became curious.

"Did that hurt, my pet?" She asked coyly as she ran her hand up his inner thigh. He never felt so disgusted and humiliated in his life. He stared at her.

"Why do you do this?" His voice came out hoarse.

"Why does anyone do anything?" She grinned at him as her hand wrapped around his member. He tensed up again and tried to catch his breath as she started digging her nails in. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting not to scream in pain as she twisted him. He really wished he were drugged or would just pass out.

She let go when she could see he had had enough. Sweat beaded on his face, mixing with the tears that had seeped from his eyes. "You ask why I do this? I ask you why you men seem to always think you can have all the control over us females?" She asked in a serious tone.

Greg tried to speak but the overwhelming pain he was in prevented any sound from leaving his lips.

She saw him try to say something. "Well are you going to answer me?"

He finally opened his eyes again and glared at her. "What happened to you? I doubt you were always like this. Does that scar have anything to do with your male issues?"

When he mentioned her scar, her hand immediately flew up to touch it. None of the others ever asked her about it. It surprised her.

"Maybe, maybe not, why do you want to know?"

"Because it's what I do for a living, to find out why people kill or commit crimes," he said exasperatedly as he gazed into her crazed hazel eyes.

She stared at him and suddenly saw him in a different light than she had the others. She went to touch his face, but he quickly turned his head away from her. Still she placed her hand on his cheek. She felt his jaw tense up and it maddened her so then she ran her hand slowly down his neck, over his chest and then down again, grabbing him. She felt his body quiver under her touch and heard his breathing become ragged again and then she just let go.

She saw and heard his sigh of relief as he still looked away from her. "How do I make you feel?" She asked him softly.

"Are you serious?" He asked with an incredulous look on his face as he turned back to look at her.

"Yes, very. Tell me," she told him.

He studied her expression for a moment to see if she was just playing with his head but she appeared solemn. "How do you think I feel? I feel violated, humiliated, ashamed, terrified, horrified, and victimized. I keep wondering what I've done to you to deserve this or anyone for that matter to be punished like this. I keep wondering when you will kill me. Do you want me to go on, because I can." He tried sounding angry but he was too beaten and it only came out sounding defeated.

She studied him with a new curiosity. She never had let the others talk as much as she was letting him. She gazed into his weary brown eyes and cocked her head sideways. "Well I felt all those things and more for most of my childhood and it was time for me to make someone pay for that."

"Yes, but I did not do anything to you and I doubt the other men you killed did either."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, you are all the same."

He sighed and mumbled, "Talk about stereotyping…"

She raised her eyebrows in amusement. "I could ask you how you got your scars."

He looked at her, not sure what she was talking about. "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes then grabbed his side and rolled him onto his stomach. He yelped in pain as he fell onto his wounded torso. He flinched again as she touched his back. "These scars on your back." He could feel her trace her fingernails over the old scars from the lab explosion.

"They are burn scars. I was in an explosion at work a few years ago in the lab."

"Fascinating." He could feel her fingers still on his back and after a minute she spoke again. "Did you work the murders?"

"You mean the men you killed? Yes actually, I was on the case."

He heard her snicker. "How ironic, isn't it? Now here you are. I guess your co-workers will be in for a surprise when they find your dead body, won't they?" She said with amusement.

He craned his head to glare at her. "I'm glad you find this so amusing," he said dryly.

She smirked at him and patted his head. "You poor thing, even if you do not remember much of what we did together, you have a good idea, don't you, from seeing my other pets bodies."

"We are not pets. We are human beings," he seethed, getting sick of the insanity she spewed.

"A person can have human pets too. It's nice to see you get angry, anger excites me."

"You are one psychotic bitch!"

She started laughing maliciously again and got up. She walked over to her black trunk and pulled out her braided whip.

He saw her coming with it out of the corner of his eyes. He wished he had kept his mouth shut. He closed his eyes as he braced his already bruised and battered body for the oncoming assault.

Grissom and Nick stood behind Archie as they viewed the bank surveillance video of Greg walking up to the ATM and withdrawing money. No one else stood in sight and Greg gave no sign of anything unusual happening to him.

The next video was a drive-up ATM but Greg walked up to it. They could see someone else driving the car off quickly after he walked away with the cash. They tried making the image clearer but the person's face remained blurry.

"Damn it," Nick yelled, as yet again they could not get a good visual ID.

"Hey guys, we got the bartender from Hush Nightclub coming in. He remembers serving Greg and the woman he was with. I'm meeting him at Central to get more details." Brass told them as he came in.

"Great, I'll come with. Keep working here, Nick. I have a feeling we are getting closer to finding out the identity of our killer."

"Yeah but will it be soon enough for Greg?" Nick asked, his voice deep with concern.

"Just keep checking these videos that keep coming in. We'll find him soon," Grissom promised him, hoping it was a promise he could keep.

--

Down at the LVPD, Brass and Grissom talked with Kevin Hardy, the Hush Nightclub bartender. "Yeah I saw this guy with this pretty redhead. I know she had been checking him out first. She had asked me earlier if he was a regular and I said no, I had not seen him before."

"Is this her?" Brass asked as he pushed the sketch drawing of her towards him on the table.

"Yeah, the hair was a bit shorter but yeah that sure looks like her."

"Did you get a name or anything?" Grissom asked him.

"I think I heard her say Heather. I mean she was really good looking, I was even jealous of him."

"Did you see if they left together and when?"

"Well, I know they left the bar for awhile and grabbed a table, but I am not sure on the time, sorry."

"That's okay, Mr. Hardy. You have been a big help. If you think of anything else that can help us, let us know," Grissom said as his mind went over the interesting new development.

After Mr. Hardy left, Brass could tell Grissom's wheels were turning. "What are you thinking?"

"If this woman is our killer, her tactics are along the lines of a dominatrix, although much more extreme. She said her name was Heather, but I doubt she gives her real name, but maybe she was one of Lady Heather's girls?"

Brass raised his eyebrows. "Wow, I would have never thought of that, but I'd say it is a lead to follow up on. I'm sure you will handle that personally," he smirked at Grissom.

Grissom merely narrowed his eyes at him. "I think I will right away. If this woman has Greg, we don't have much time. A whole day and a half has already passed. Most of our victims have turned up dead 3-4 days after they went missing."

"Well get to it. I'll fill in Nick for you," Brass told him.


	6. Help from a Lady

Grissom knocked on the dark ornate door and waited for her to answer it. She opened the door, dressed in a long black gown. "Gil, I am surprised to see you. I take it you come on police business?"

"Yes I do. I need to find out if you recognize this woman. We think she is involved in a series of murders."

"Come in and let me have a look." Grissom walked in her house and handed her the sketch drawing and video still.

Lady Heather studied the sketch a moment. "She does look familiar, let me think a moment." She studied both pictures for a minute.

"Yes, I do remember her. She applied for a job with me a few months ago. I always let the ladies that apply show me what they like to do. I usually pick two of my best girls to sit in on one of the applicant's acts. This girl seemed to have issues. I remember she seemed a bit off. She seemed to have a hatred for men by how violent her acts were. I did not hire her because my ladies enjoy their work but do not do it because they hate men, quite the opposite. They love men who love women who love to be in control, but they do not hate them. They do not do the acts out of hate. It is all pleasure."

"Do you remember her name or maybe still have some kind of application on file from her?"

"I do not keep applications from the ladies I turn down on file, but let me think if I can remember her name. I know two of my current ladies may remember her because they were the ones who sat in on her audition. Is she the one responsible for the dead men being found, I read about?"

Grissom nodded. "She was seen with two of them before they disappeared. She might have one of my guys right now."

She nodded in a sudden understanding. "Oh, I see. Do you have time to come with me? I can take you to the ladies who might know more about her. Oh and I think her name was Robin, uh…Robin Weaver."

"That's a start. We can use anything we can get."

Grissom called Brass and told him to get any information he could find on a Robin Weaver. Then he followed Lady Heather to her facility. "Wait right here, let me get Kari and Jaycee, they should know more about her."

Lady Heather came back a few minutes later with two ladies dressed in tight leather outfits and high-heeled boots. "This is Kari and Jaycee. They both talked to Robin some and can tell you more about her."

"Thank you ladies for speaking with me. I wanted to find out all I can about this Robin Weaver, what was her personality was like?"

The blonde, Jaycee spoke up first. "Well at first she seemed really nice and I thought she would work well with us and our clients, but after we watched her in a session with one of our regular clients to see her what she did, well it was things we normally do not do. It was truly malicious torture. We had to stop her before we lost a regular client."

Kari chimed in, nodding. "Yeah, I mean some consider what we do to be torture, but we only go as far as the client asks or pays for. She would have landed this guy in the hospital if we had not stopped her. She got this like crazed look in her eyes after awhile. She scared me a bit even. She seemed to me like a girl who was abused in her past and lashing out her aggression on this poor guy."

"Then she definitely sounds like the person responsible for our murders. Can you take a look at this and maybe add something to her features that we are missing?" Grissom handed them the sketch.

"She has hazel eyes and last time I ran into her she had long black hair," Jaycee told him.

"When was this last time you saw her?"

"It was about a month ago. We talked briefly. It was at Eden's Fantasy, the adult sex store. I was buying some new equipment for work and she was there too, looking at whips. I said hi and asked her if she was doing work on her own. She got really defensive and said it was none of my business since Lady Heather did not want her. I said I was sorry and let her be. I did not want to get into it with her."

He turned to Lady Heather. "Do you know where she lived? Was it near here?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember that information, sorry."

"What about you two? Do you know where she might live?"

They both shook their heads. "I stayed away from her after her display here," Kari said.

"Okay, well you two have been very helpful. If you can think of anything else about her that might be helpful, give us a call." Grissom thanked them and then Lady Heather walked him to the door.

"So what exactly is she doing to these men?" She asked him as they walked.

"I can't say much, but probably their worst nightmare. So far we only know by examining the bodies what has pretty much been done to them. Our last guy is still in a coma."

"And you think she has one of your CSI's?"

Grissom nodded grimly. "He's been missing for over 36 hours now and he was last seen with her at bar."

She studied his expression and then took his hands in hers. "You care about your people a lot but you try not to let it show. You have to be the rock for them, but I can see in your eyes that you are very afraid for your guy. If I can find out anymore, I will contact you as soon as possible. I hope you find him before it is too late."

"Thank you. I hope so too."

--

She sat in the chair, filing her nails after she finished her task. She occasionally glanced over at her 'pet' to see if he had woke up yet. She took some pity upon him and gave him some water earlier on with the drug in it so he would be more cooperative and not realize what was going on, even though they always found out after when she told them.

She noticed some movement from him. She got up and walked over to him. His eyes were still closed, but he rolled his head some and moaned. Nightmares, she gathered. She knew them too well. She still had them to this day even though it had been well over 10 years since her torture ended. She thought she was actually kind to her 'pets'. They only were tortured for a few days and even then they were mostly drugged and then she had the courtesy to put them out of their misery. She had heard on the news her last victim was still alive, though in a coma. She hoped he would not recover and possibly ID her, but then again he probably would not remember her anyway she figured. Most of the others she kept drugged longer than she had kept her current pet drugged. She was fascinated due to his working the cases.

She was still undecided on what to do with her current 'pet'. She went over to him and looked at his face, which had a pain filled expression on it. She never damaged their faces because she knew the pain always showed through on their features anyway. She sat down cross-legged next to him and watched as he became more restless in his sleep.

After a couple minutes he woke up, opened his eyes and saw her. He jerked back, scared of what she might inflict upon him.

"You all always do that, seem to be scared of me, so silly. You men scared of a woman. It is a nice change. More women should take control of the men in their lives and show them who is boss, then maybe men would respect us women."

"I do respect women," Greg said quietly.

"You think you did, by coming on to me like you did?"

He looked at her unbelievably. "As I recall you were the one looking at me first and you wanted me to come on to you. You have no idea what respect is."

"That is bold coming from someone in your position," she sneered.

"Yeah well I like to speak my mind," he replied tiredly.

"So how do you think you respect women? I would like to know," she asked him curiously.

He closed his eyes, too sleepy to keep them open, but still he spoke. "I respect my female co-workers. I was even trained by a female. I help find murderers, rapists, and others who commit crimes against women…" he opened his eyes and looked directly at her. "And men."

She smirked. "I bet you wish you would have caught me before I caught you, but I am good. I've been planning these acts for awhile now."

"Everyone messes up at some point. You might kill me, but when they find me they will not stop until they catch you and then you will understand what it feels like to be in a cage and maybe see your own death," he said defiantly.

She gave him an angry glare and stood up. She walked over to her black trunk and started rummaging through it. "We'll see about that. Ah here it is…my newest toy."

He could not see what she had hidden behind her back as she sauntered over to him but he assumed it was some kind of new torture. He had already almost become numb to his pain as it had become so severe. His body was covered in welts and lacerations and even burns now, from what he was not even sure. Even if she had untied him, he would not have the strength or energy to run for his freedom.

"You know all of my pets don't like to cooperate and you just like to get on my nerves just when I start thinking I like you better than the others."

"Well you get on my nerves too," he smirked.

"Maybe I do but I don't have to worry about having this used on me." She showed him what looked like some sort of electricution torture device with two metal clamps.

He paled more than he already was. "I don't supposed you are going to give me some of that nice water like you did before?"  
She grinned maliciously. "No, not this time. I don't have the patience to wait. I've modified this to cause more pain than it normally would."

"Great," he mumbled partially sarcastic but mostly fearfully. At least he closed his eyes to avoid seeing the act performed. He actually wished she would use the lethal dose of Scopolamine on him soon. He could not take this much longer.


	7. The Devil's Breath

**A/N- Thanks for all of your reviews. I am glad you are enjoying it. Will they find Greg in time? Read and find out.**

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Grissom gathered his team in the conference room. Warrick and Catherine knew something was up and were aware of Greg's absence but not why yet.

"I'm glad you two are here. We did not want to worry anyone else until we knew for sure." Grissom pulled out updated images of the woman they knew as Robin Weaver, in various different hairstyles and colors. Brass had found an older mug shot photo of her when she was arrested for starting a brawl with two other women in a bar. He had given the image to Archie and had him update the photo to give her the different looks. Unfortunately they did not have a current address on her. Her last known address came up a dud.

"This woman, known as Robin Weaver, is believed to be our serial killer. She has been seen with two of our victims on the nights they disappeared, although each time she disguised herself with a wig." Grissom looked at Nick to see how he was holding up before going on. He knew Nick was torn up inside, still blaming himself for getting Greg to go out.

"As you both know, Greg has not shown up to work for the last three days. We have reason to believe that he is her latest victim."

Catherine gasped and Warrick looked to Nick immediately, now realizing why he had been acting on edge the last couple of days.

"How do you know?" Catherine asked in a shaky voice.

"He was last seen at the Hush Nightclub with her by a bartender and then we have him on two bank surveillance cameras taking money out. Nick discovered his bank account was overdrawn when he went to his apartment to check on him. No one has heard from him in two days."

Catherine shook her head. "I can't believe this is happening." Warrick wrapped his arm around her waist to comfort her.

"I know this is hard, but we don't know how much time we have left. We need to find out if anyone has seen this woman recently and where."

Brass came in suddenly. "Gil, our last victim, Mark Probst has died. He had too much brain damage and he was declared brain dead. The drug did too much damage to his body, Dr. Ford said."

They all exchanged grim looks. So far all of her victims died and she had Greg now.

Grissom bit his lip before going on. "I'm having Nick follow up with a lead that she shopped at Eden's Fantasy. She used the name Heather with Greg. We know this from the bartender. I went on a hunch and visited Lady Heather." Warrick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Grissom went on to tell them about the information he gathered from Lady Heather, Kari and Jaycee.

"Makes some sort of sense that she was a practicing dominatrix and now gone rouge and crazy killing men," Warrick said.

"Yes it does. We are trying to see if we can find more background on her to why she might be doing this, but right now we have no evidence to where she might be taking them," Grissom told them.

"We got people looking for Greg's car. We did a small press release but only mentioned the car is possibly part of an ongoing investigation," Brass told them.

"So Warrick and Catherine, if you two could help by going back to our previous body drop locations and show Robin Weaver's picture around and see if anyone recognizes her, that would greatly help," Grissom said.

"And I am heading over to Eden's Fantasy to see if I can get information about her purchases from there, maybe get an address," Nick said.

"The quicker we gather information, the quicker we have a chance of finding Greg," Grissom said to them. They all exchanged concerned looks and then went their separate ways to help find information to help find their suspect and Greg.

--

She watched over him again, waiting for him to wake up. She had things ready now to do the final step. It was time for him to move on.

After about fifteen minutes, he slowly opened his eyes partially. He saw her by him again but this time he had no strength to do anything. She had won. He actually wished she would kill him soon and get it over with.

She looked over his bruised and bloodied body. She had no use for him anymore. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was completely broken. She usually got satisfaction out of that look but she did not feel it as much with him and she could not figure out why.

"It's your time, Greg," she said softly to him. It surprised him that she used his name. He wanted to ask why but he simply was too weak to even open his mouth.

"It's time I let you have some peace. I think I've been harder on you than the others, probably because you got to me more than they did. You were more curious but I guess that is because of your job. Anyway now I'm going to give the gift of the Devil's Breath. I'm sure you are aware that the drug is just as dangerous inhaled as it is taken internally. In a large enough dose it will kill you."

He watched her as she placed a surgical mask over her head, letting it lay under her chin. Then she opened up a folded piece of paper and he saw a good-sized amount of the powder. Suddenly as he knew what was coming, the part of him that wanted to die became overpowered by the part of him that did not want to die like this.

As she made a move to blow the substance in his face, he held his breath. As it was blown in his face, he tried not to inhale and succeeded at first but in his weakened state he could not do it for long. He took in a breath of air and powder inadvertently. He started coughing as he inhaled more as she blew more into his face. He felt like he was going to choke momentarily.

"Just breathe normally, do not fight it," she said through her mask, calmly.

He closed his eyes to fight the oncoming tears. He felt her touch his hands. He tried to pull away from her touch.

"No, no, I'm taking the ropes off. You won't need them anymore." She told him as she cut the ropes off of him. She noticed how raw and bloodied his wrists were from his times of trying to free himself of the ropes. She laid his arms at his side.

She looked at him as tears rolled down the sides of his face. "I need you to sit up now." She helped him sit up because she knew he was too weak to do it on his own. "That's good. Now I need you to try to stand."

He looked at her like she was insane, but then again she was he reminded himself.

She stood up and grabbed his hands and pulled him up to his feet. She quickly put an arm around his waist to support him and keep him from falling down.

His knees buckled under him from the extreme pain he was in. "I rather not drag you up the stairs if I do not have to. You need to try to walk," she told him softly.

He did not want to move. He just wanted to collapse there and let the drug kill him but the drug was starting to work and he obeyed her and tried to walk with her assistance. It was a slow process getting him up the stairs. Once she reached the top door, he picked up his head and looked around. It looked like an old bar or club. She walked him across the room to another door.

"Just a little bit further and you're done," she told him. She opened this door, which led into a warehouse space where there were several cars, one he recognized as his. She walked him over to a black sedan.

Greg was starting to lose consciousness. She quickly opened the trunk and pushed him into it before he collapsed on his own. He did not even know what was going on anymore. His world had grown dark and his body growing colder by the minute.

She looked at his shivering body. "Soon you will not have any pain or suffering at all," she told him before she closed the trunk on him. She was always a bit mad at herself for letting them not have to live with the terrors she still lived with to this day. She offered them peace from the suffering. She wished someone had offered her that peace at one point in her past. She opened the large door to the warehouse and drove her car out. Then she closed the door behind her before driving to the new drop location.

--

"Nick, what did you find out at that store?" Grissom asked him as he saw the CSI Level 3 enter the lab.

"The owner says she came in there about a week ago and bought one of these." Nick showed him a photo of a body electrode with clamps. "He said she has bought several items there in the last month, but she always paid in cash. No address on file and she always came in wearing a wig of straight black long hair. I told him to call us if he sees her come in again, immediately."

"She's good about not leaving a money trail. That's why she has them get the cash out. She gets the money from them to pay for all her stuff."

Grissom nodded in agreement. "She's been planning this for awhile and then seems to pick out men at random, most are in their late 20's or early 30's, around the same in build. She is about the same age as them. We think Robin Weaver may not be her birth name. We are checking up more on that. We just do not seem to find too much information on her."

"Damn Grissom, it's been four days now and we still have no idea where she has taken him," Nick said angrily as he slapped down the file folder he had in his hand.

"I know this is frustrating, Nick. We are doing the best we can and…" He stopped when Brass came into his office looking grave.

"We just got a call on another male body being found behind Club Pleasure. Paramedics were called and the man is still alive, barely. I figured you would want to come right away when I got the call."

Grissom looked to Nick really quick who seemed dazed. "I need you with me. Nick, can you do this?" Nick looked to him and nodded.

"You can't stop me from going with you," he told Grissom sternly.

"Good, let's go."


	8. Discovery

They arrived on the scene and the paramedics were already there. They were working over the man, hooking up IV's and attending to his open wounds. Grissom, Brass, and Nick all walked over with breaths held.

"Oh God!" It was Nick who said it when he realized it was Greg they were working on. He felt like he was going to be sick when he saw Greg's bloodied torso. The paramedics had placed a blanket to cover below his waist to give him some dignity as they worked on him.

The one paramedic heard Nick and turned around. "He's still alive but in really serious condition. We need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Do everything you can for him. He is one of our guys," Brass told the paramedic.

"Really? Uh, okay." The paramedic went back to helping his partner with Greg.

Grissom had not taken his eyes off of Greg since he saw that it was he for himself. He felt an anger boiling inside him that he was trying hard to contain at seeing his former lab rat looking more like he was used as a lab rat. He bit back his anger finally to tell the paramedics something. "He most likely has been given a lethal dose of Scopolamine, like our previous victims. I know Dr. Ford has been the one to work on the last two. I would advise calling him in on this if he is not already at the hospital."

"Thank you, Sir. That we will do. Now if you will excuse us, we need to get him out of here."

"Can I go with you guys?" Nick asked them. He did not care what Grissom might say, someone familiar needed to be with Greg.

"Yeah but only one person."

Nick looked sternly at Grissom for approval and got it right away. "I'll call Warrick to help out with the scene," Grissom told him with a nod.

They watched the paramedics place Greg on the stretcher and move him into the ambulance. Nick got in the back with the one medic. He took Greg's left hand in his and held it lightly not wanting to hurt him as he saw how raw and bloodied his wrist was. "You're safe now, Greg. We got you."

--

After a few hours, Grissom showed up at the hospital with Warrick. Nick and Catherine were already there, sitting in the waiting room, looking solemn.

"How's he doing?" Grissom asked as he came up to them.

Catherine looked up at him with eyes that told the story. "The doctor just came out to us about 30 minutes ago. Greg is in a coma, like the past two victims. He's being moved to ICU. He said right now it does not look good."

"We can see him in another half hour Dr. Ford said," Nick added somberly.

Grissom nodded and sighed. "Have his parents been contacted yet?"

"Yes, the hospital staff did it. I guess his parents are going to be on the next flight from San Gabriel." Catherine told him.

"That's good. They should be here for him."

"Dr. Ford said that physically Greg was in worse shape than the last two men," Nick said tersely after thinking about having to take the photos of Greg's bruised and battered body for evidence once they arrived at the hospital and he got permission from the medics. "She messed him up really good, Grissom."

Grissom looked away down the hall, thinking about what the other men had been through and unable to imagine all that and maybe more had happened to his youngest CSI. They needed to catch this killer and soon.

--

Nick and Grissom went in first once they were allowed to visit Greg. He lay in the bed, in a coma, his face pale but not bruised unlike the rest of his body, which was covered in bandages, under the hospital gown. Bandages were around his wrists from the cuts the ropes had left behind. A couple IV's were hooked up to him. Nick stared at the heart monitor that kept track of Greg's slow heartbeat. He found it hard to look at his friend, feeling he might not be in this condition had he not encouraged Greg to get out more and date.

Grissom could tell that Nick was still blaming himself for what happened to Greg. "Nick this is not your fault and I am sure if Greg were awake right now he would tell you the same thing. I'm sure he would not want you blaming yourself for what some crazy woman did to him," Grissom told him.

Nick sighed. "This should not have happened to him Grissom, especially after what happened to him last year, the beating and the trial, it had changed him some. If he pulls through this, what's it going to do to him?"

Grissom shook his head, not knowing what something like this would do to the young CSI. "I don't know, Nick. We do not even know if he will pull through. The others have not, odds are against him, unfortunately."

The door opened behind them. Dr. Todd Ford entered the room. The tall, thin, white haired man came up to the two CSI's. "We got his blood work results back. The levels of Scopolamine are not as high in his results as the previous two victims."

"So what does that mean exactly?" Nick asked the doctor.

"Well, it means that he may have a better chance of recovery, although his overall physical injuries are more serious than the others and there is no telling the emotional amount of trauma he has."

"Thanks for letting us know, Dr. Ford," Grissom said to him.

"No problem. I will be back later on to check up on him again."

The doctor left the two investigators with Greg. Nick could not be in that room anymore with Greg. All he could picture was the way he saw him in the Emergency Room; lacerations, contusions, burns, bruises, and welts all over his body. "I'm going back to the lab and seeing if we can get anything new to catch this Robin Weaver."

Grissom let him go but stayed a few minutes longer. He walked up closer to Greg's bed. He looked at Greg and was thankful that at least at this moment he was at peace.

"Hey, has their been any changes in his condition?"

Grissom turned around and saw Catherine standing in the doorway. She came up to him and stood besides him.

"There is no change but Dr. Ford said he had lower levels of Scopolamine in his system than the last two, so his chance at recovery is slightly better."

Catherine wrapped her arms around herself as she looked at Greg and how pale he was. "He didn't deserve this. He's a good kid," she said softly.

"Yeah I know. That's what makes it harder." Grissom sighed. "I better get back to the lab and see if there are any new developments."

After Grissom left, Catherine pulled up a chair and sat with Greg for a while, holding his hand. She did not say anything, but watched him breathe wondering about all he must have gone through. A tear escaped from her eyes as she thought about it.

Back at the lab, Brass came in to see Grissom in his office. "Hey just thought I would update you on the investigation. We have a few undercovers working in a few bars and clubs in the vicinity of the last abduction locations. They will be looking for our girl and see if we can't get her before she gets another guy. They will hit different places each night."

"It maybe the only way to catch her at this point. Let's hope this works out." Grissom said to Brass as he looked over a photo of their suspect.

She sat in a new bar, fluffing her new short, blonde haired wig. She had been sitting there for a while looking for a guy when she spotted a guy already giving her the eye. He smiled at her once her eyes landed on him. She coyly smiled back at him. She had found her next pet.

* * *

**A/N-Again thanks for all the fantastic reviews. Some have wondered about how this Scopolamine works. Well here is a little bit about it and a link for more info.**

_VBS.TV recently did a story on Scopolamine, a substance commonly referred to as "Devils Breath" in Colombia, where it is a common street drug._

This stuff is as close to pure evil as it gets, a tiny amount of the powder administered to the victim causes one of two effects, a) death, or b) complete loss of free will. Criminals are usually hoping for the latter, as it enables them to tell victims to empty their bank accounts, give away their car, perform sex acts, basically whatever the criminal dictates.

This is where Scopolamine has got its reputation as the "zombie drug", victims appear completely sober and rational, but they're really just automatons.

Scopolamine recently popped up in the news as a treatment for bipolar disorder and depression. The drug also has history as a sort of truth serum administered in interrogation environments -- it was used by the CIA in the 1960s, during the MKULTRA program.

/Scopolamine.html


	9. Covering Tracks

* * *

**A/N- I was going to post this last night but the website would not let me log in, but I have a new chapter now. I like posting a new chapter every 2-3 days, just to keep you all in suspense. :D I am evil like that. LOL Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh and just a clarification that I should have made in that last chapter...when I was talking about HER at a club, it was actually a few days later. I forgot to add that point. I say that now because it will help make sense for this chapter. Sorry about that.  
**

* * *

A few days had passed and there was still no change in Greg's condition or in the case.

Grissom walked into the layout room, where Nick stood in a daze looking at the series of photos laid out on the table. The photos were of the victims and their injuries, included in those photos were ones of Greg now. Photos of the lacerations, burns and welts on Greg's chest and back. And then there were the other photos, which he had taken but did not lay out on the table for anyone to see. The photos he hated having to take but had to due to his job.

"Nick, looking at these photos is not helping any," Grissom told him.

"I know. I guess I'm just trying to picture what he went through. If he wakes up, I want to know how to deal with him. I don't know. I guess I just don't know how he will react. He may not even remember any of it at all."

"That is possible, however, he'll still be aware in some respects due to having worked the cases and well, due to the condition he is in," Grissom reminded him.

Nick's fist suddenly hit the table. "This sucks, Grissom. I need to do something, but there is nothing new. It's like she disappeared into thin air."

Just then Grissom's cell rang. "Grissom," he answered.

"It's Jim. We got her. One of our guys spotted her in a blonde wig at the Nightshots bar. She zoned in on him and he tagged her. They are bringing her in now."

"I'll be down there in five minutes." Grissom hung up and for the first time in a about a week he had a grin on his face. "They got her. They are bringing her in now."

Nick looked up hopefully. "I am with you." He gathered up the photos and brought them with him.

They walked into the interrogation room and for the first time saw in person the woman whom they believed killed several men and put Greg in a coma. Upon seeing her they could see the dangerous beauty that she was. Her hazel eyes followed them carefully as they filed into the room. Gone was the blonde wig that she had been arrested in. They now saw a beautiful woman with short hair and the strange scar that was slightly hidden under her hair on the side of her head.

She looked at them innocently. "Why I am here? Is it illegal now to pick up a guy in a bar?"

Brass took a seat across from her and Grissom sat next to him. Nick stood back by the door with the officer. "Do you always wear a wig when you go out to pick up guys?"

"Oh it is illegal now to wear wigs, is it?" She asked sarcastically, with a glint in her eyes.

Brass just smirked. "Let's get down to the real reason you are here. You were last seen with 2 men who ended up dead and one man who is still in the hospital in a coma."

She was fascinated inwardly that Greg was still alive, but did not show it to them. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Grissom pulled out the photos of the two dead men first and placed them on the table in front of her. "We have eyewitnesses who saw you with these two men on the nights of their disappearance."

She looked at the photos of the dead men. "Okay, yeah I remember them but I did not kill them. They picked me up at the bars and offered me a drink. We hung out for awhile, but then I went home…alone." She looked at them sternly.

"Is there anyone who can confirm where you were between the hours of 2 am and 5 am on the mornings of Feb. 11th, Feb. 19th, Feb. 26th, and March 4th?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I was asleep in my bed. Sorry but I live alone, so I have no witnesses to my sleeping. I did not think I would need any."

"We have reason to believe that you drugged these men's drinks with Scopolamine."

She feigned a baffled look. "What the hell is that? Am I supposed to know what that is?"

The guys were all thinking the same thing that she was good at this. She was prepared to act all innocent, but they all knew she was not.

"We know you do, perhaps you know it as Devil's Breath; that is the street name. We are wondering where you get it from?" Brass asked her with his most innocent face.

"I'm sorry but I still have no idea what you are all talking about?"

"Where do you live, Miss Weaver? The address on your driver's license is to an empty lot, how fascinating that is. So do you want to tell us where you say you were actually sleeping at on the nights in question?" Nick asked her this time.

She looked at the handsome Texan, thinking he would have been a nice choice for a pet.

"Robin, are you going to answer the question?" Brass asked her now after she seemed to be staring at Nick for a minute.

She looked at Brass suddenly, remembering the question and having not thought how to answer this. If she gave them her address, they would find the basement and she would be busted for sure. She could send them on a wild goose chase for now, she supposed. "Well let me think, I believe I was sleeping at 1280 Aspen Drive on those nights," she smirked. It was an address of a former place she lived, so she thought it was a good start.

Grissom nodded to Nick to go and start researching it. Nick left the room.

"While we check on that address, maybe you can tell us what you have done with these items?" Grissom pulled out photos of the braided whip and the electrode clamps supplied by Eden's Fantasy shop owner.

She looked at them casually, picking up the one photo of the whip. "No, I do not have one of these. What makes you think I do?"

Brass smiled at her. "Oh well see this nice gentleman from Eden's Fantasy ID you as a frequent purchaser at his place, these two items most recently."

"Really? Well, I must have a twin then because I've never been in there. Does he have a credit card receipt from me or video of me?"

Grissom and Brass exchanged glances in amusement at her quickness. "No but he identified you from a photo we have of you."

"Really?" She knew she always wore her black longhaired wig when she went there. She knew they had nothing definite on her. It was all circumstantial, unless Greg woke up and identified her. That was her only mistake, not making sure he was dead when she dumped him. "Well, he must be mistaken, because I've never stepped foot in a place like that."

"Funny you say that because I have another witness, from a place you applied for a job at a few months ago who saw you in there," Grissom said to her.

She thought for a moment and remembered seeing the girl from Lady Heather's Lair in there. "I do not know what you mean. Again, I must have a twin I do not know about out in this world," she smiled with a shrug.

Brass sighed then decided to try another line of questioning. "What do you do for a living, Miss Weaver?"

"I'm a photographer. I do freelance work. I can bring in my portfolio if you do not believe me."

Slick very slick, Brass thought of her. It was going to be hard to hold her with the evidence they had and her denying everything.

Nick came back into the interrogation room. "Miss Weaver, the person at the address you gave us said they have never heard of you and they have lived there for the last year. We know you use to live there but have moved since and your new address is nowhere to be found. So again where do you live?" Nick said with some steam behind his voice.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, did I say 1280 Aspen Drive, I meant 1820 Aspen Drive. I just moved up the road."

"Listen Lady, stop messing with us and tell us where you take these men and torture them," Nick stood up and slammed the table, his temper finally getting the best of him.

Grissom got up and pulled Nick out of the room. "Nick, I know this is frustrating but you have to hold your temper. We have to go by the book with her if we are going to be able to hold her on the circumstantial evidence we have right now," he told him outside the room.

"Yeah but she is messing with us. She knows if she gives us the location she is busted, that is why she is sending us on wild goose chases. She won't give us the location."

"Well we are waiting for the warrant to search her car. Maybe we will find something out once we can search it," Grissom told him.

"Yeah but meanwhile we could be loosing Greg and this bitch just keeps lying through her teeth," Nick fumed.

"I know, but all we have right now is she was last seen with them but nothing saying she actually is responsible for torturing them and killing them." Grissom said calmly to his angry CSI. "Now just go into the viewing room, maybe you can catch something she says to give us a clue to her place."

"Fine, I just hope we get that warrant soon."

Grissom went back into the interrogation room. Brass had been talking to her about her wig collection. He had asked if she owned a long black haired one. She denied owning that one and he knew why.

Brass looked at Grissom with frustration written all over his face. His phone rang. "Brass," he answered. He talked for a while then hung up the phone. He then smiled at her. "Our warrant came through to search your car. I believe they will be towing it into our garage within the hour."

She made a small smile, but her eyes showed a quick flash of worry. "Go ahead, I don't know what you expect to find?" She was glad she always covered her trunk in plastic before she threw the bodies in and then burned the plastic back at her place once she finished dumping the bodies.

"You might be surprised at what we can find," Grissom smirked as he looked at the mirrored window, knowing Nick was listening and probably ready to pounce on the searching her vehicle.

--

He heard some sort of beeping in his head. It was low but he wanted it to stop. The beeping seemed to awaken every bit of ache in his body. His eyes felt so heavy as the fog in his head started to clear. He did not know why he was in so much pain at first, but as he lay there in this half-conscious state, certain horrible and painful images flashed through his head. His body visibly shuddered as partial memories flew into his consciousness. The beep sound started going faster and pounded harder in his head.

Suddenly he heard a door open and footsteps approaching. Fear gripped at his heart as he recalled the last time he heard footsteps approaching him. He wanted to scream and run away but he was trapped inside his head.

"Mr. Sanders? Can you hear me?" He heard the female voice, but he would not, could not answer. It was her. She was there to torment him more.

"It's okay Mr. Sanders, you are safe now." The nurse was not sure if he could hear her, but she knew it was often good to talk to comatose patients and being that he was showing a faster heartbeat that showed some sign of brain activity. It was a somewhat good sign. She checked his vitals and jotted down some notes as his heart rate slowly went back to normal. When she was satisfied with the notes, she left him alone again.

He heard her walk out and close the door. He wanted to open his eyes to see where he was now but still they were too heavy. He remember being untied and moved but did not remember anything beyond being made to stand up. The pain in his body became too much though and he gave into the dark fog again.


	10. Developments

**A/N-**_Thanks for your reviews.  
_

* * *

The black Chevrolet Impala was now sitting in the CSI lab's garage with Nick and Warrick going through it. Warrick went through the inside gathering hairs off the seats to see if any belonged to their victims.

Nick meanwhile was examining the trunk of her car. He pulled out the ALS to see if there was any blood or other body fluids that were unseen to the naked eye on the black carpeting of the trunk.

He put on the special red glasses and turned on the ALS. He was frowning as he was not seeing anything at first, but then he shined it along the inside rear wall of the trunk and that was when he spotted blood.

"Hey Warrick, check this out," Nick waved him over. Warrick came to where Nick stood. He saw where the light lit up the faint blood trace.

"Looks like blood alright. I'll swab it." He got out and swabbed the blood area and then dropped some Phenolphthalein on it. It turned pink. "Yep, it's blood," Warrick said. "She must be cleaning the trunk out after each dump."

Nick spotted something small but shiny. He grabbed his tweezers and pulled it out. "Looks like a piece of black plastic. It's flimsy, maybe part of a plastic bag?"

"I bet she places the bodies in plastic or lines her trunk with it so it is an easier clean up for her," Warrick assumed.

"She's pretty smart, I would not put it past her. We should probably check some hardware stores in that search radius and see if anyone knows of her purchasing large rolls of plastic."

"Meanwhile, I got some fingerprints and hairs from inside the car. I'm going to run them to DNA, along with a sample of this blood," Warrick said to Nick.

"Okay I'm going to continue here and see if I can find anything else. Have you checked the back seat yet?" Nick asked Warrick.

"No, be my guest," Warrick smiled.

--

He heard that beeping again. He really wanted to find out what it was and make it stop, it was making his head throb. He tried to open his eyes but was finding it very hard to do so. Finally he was able to crack them open. He noticed dim lighting and figured he was back in the basement. The beeping, he had to find the source of it. As his vision came better into focus he started realizing he was not in the basement. He was no longer naked; he was bandaged up in a bed. The beeping source located to his left was a heart monitor. He was in a hospital. He was alive but feeling the pain he felt he was not so sure he wanted to be.

He heard the door open and he jerked slightly out of natural reflex now. He saw a man he thought he recognized walk into the room.

"Hello, Mr. Sanders. I guess my nurse was right when she thought you might be coming out of your coma. I am Dr. Robert Ford, if you do not remember me. There will be a lot of people very happy to know you are awake."

Dr. Ford noticed Greg seemed apprehensive. "Do you understand me Greg?" The doctor asked him, thinking maybe he was awake but not cognitive.

Greg did understand him but his thoughts were not clear on how he felt about his current situation. He managed to nod very slightly.

Dr. Ford smiled. "Good, are you in a lot of pain?" That was something easy for Greg to answer. He nodded his head right away.

"Okay, I will increase your morphine drip then, since you are now conscious." He noticed Greg seemed to be fading again. He increased his medication drip and left him to sleep. He had to contact his parents and his co-workers to let them know the good news.

--

"So they are holding her until we get the results on the blood and hairs found in her car," Grissom told his CSI crew.

"Is she still denying everything and not telling us where she lives?" Catherine asked him.

"Yes, she is still not saying a word on anything," Grissom said.

"Well once we get the results on the blood found in her trunk, she won't be able to keep quiet forever," Nick remarked, hopefully.

"Yeah but some never fess up no matter how much evidence we have on them," Warrick reminded him.

Grissom's cell phone rang. He answered it. "Really? That's great. Thanks for letting me know," they heard him say with a small smile on his face.

"What? Did Wendy get the results back on the blood?" Nick asked him eagerly.

"Better than that. Dr. Ford just called. Greg has come out of his coma."

"That's wonderful. Oh thank God," Catherine beamed.

"That is great! Did he say anything?" Nick asked feeling relief for the first time in a week.

"Dr. Ford said he was conscious only for a short time and did not speak, but he did seem to know where he was," Grissom let them know.

"I want to see him," Nick told Grissom.

"I know you all probably want to see him but I need someone to stay back here at the lab."

"I'll stay," Warrick volunteered. "I can always see him later on."

"Thanks Warrick. I'll stay behind with you. Catherine, you can go with Nick. If you guys get a chance, take her picture and see if he can identify her as the person who did this to him, but only do it based on his doctor's advice. We do not want to jeopardize Greg's recovery by pushing him too early," Grissom warned them.

"Okay, Grissom. Let us know when Wendy or Mandy come back with the results." Nick nodded to him as he headed out with Catherine to see Greg at the hospital.

--

Greg woke up but did not open his eyes. He was scared she was in the room with him, but then he remembered last time he woke up he was in the hospital. He remembered the doctor saying he would be contacting his family and co-workers.

He suddenly realized that Nick and Grissom most likely were called to the scene and saw him naked, used and humiliated. How could he ever face them knowing that they knew what happened to him? He was not sure he could face them, face anyone ever again.

He heard the door open and froze in place, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard voices he recognized but did not want to talk to. He did not want them to be there. He just wished they would go away. He felt someone grab his hand and he jerked it out as he opened his eyes in sheer fear. He could not stand anyone touching him.

Catherine took a step back as she saw the terror in Greg's eyes.

"Hey Greg, it's okay. It's just Catherine and me. You're safe now," Nick said quickly to his terrified friend. It killed him to see that look in Greg's eyes.

Greg just stared at them, feeling the fear grip at his heart. Catherine looked helplessly at Nick. "Remember what Grissom told us," she whispered to Nick. Nick nodded but he wanted to make sure Robin Weaver or whatever her name was stayed locked away for good and if Greg positively identified her as the person who put him in this state, he truly would be safe then.

Nick moved forward and came closer to Greg's bedside. Greg seemed to sink further into his pillow. "Greg, could you identify the person who did this to you?"

Greg still stared at him but tried to calm himself down some by nodding his head.

"Cool, we have someone in custody now and we think she is the one who did this to you. I'm going to show you her photo okay."

Greg swallowed hard, not wanting to really see her ever again, in any form. Nick held up the photo taken of her at the police station, with her natural short brown hair that Greg was most familiar with.

Upon seeing the photo, Greg felt sick to his stomach and started breathing heavily, his body shaking and eyes wide with fear.

Catherine seeing Greg's sudden panicked state, pushed down Nick's arm with the photo in it. "Nick, it's too soon," she scolded him. She noticed that it looked like Greg was going to be sick. She quickly grabbed the bedpan and shoved it in front of him just before he threw up bile, since he had not eaten anything in days.

Nick felt horrible now that he saw Greg's reaction. He had his answer but he probably just did more harm than good for Greg. "I'm sorry Greg. I should have waited but I just wanted to bust her for sure so she can't get released. I did not think about how you might react."

Greg looked away from both of them and closed his eyes, the shame and humiliation causing tears to come to his eyes.

Catherine did not want to hurt him anymore. "Perhaps we should leave Nick." She motioned for him to go. "I'm sorry Greg. We are here to support you; I just want you to know that. We care about you a lot." She wiped her own eyes as she turned to follow Nick out the door. Once outside she yelled at Nick.

"What were you thinking, Nick? He's barely out of the coma and you're trying to put him back in one?"

"I'm sorry. I just do not want her to get set free and I knew if we could get him to ID her we were set. I…I didn't think he would react so badly," Nick tried apologizing.

"We don't know exactly what hell he went through yet. We know she tortured and raped him but we have no idea what that stuff has done to his mind, let alone the drug's affects on him. We need to take it slow with him. No more of that crap, okay. You got your answer."

Nick never felt so reamed out as he did now. He knew Catherine was right. He looked back in on Greg through the window and felt really guilty. Greg's head was still turned away. He hoped he could make it up to him at some point.

"Let's go back to the lab and let him rest some more," Catherine said to Nick as she rested her hand on his shoulder. He nodded and tore himself away from watching Greg.

--

"Hey Grissom, I got a match on that blood in her car's trunk. It belongs to Jeff Parker, the second victim," Wendy told him as she came into his office.

"Great. Anything on the hairs?" He asked her.

"Yeah mostly synthetic from wigs, others are matches from her."  
"Well that was to be expected overall, but the blood definitely ties her to one of the murders," Warrick said to her as he was working with Grissom in his office.

"So it sounds like it is time to have a chat with Ms. Weaver again," Grissom said as he stood up from his desk, taking the DNA results from Wendy.

Down at LVPD, Grissom met with Brass again in interrogation with Robin Weaver.

"Well Ms. Weaver, it seems you have been lying to us. We found victim blood in the trunk of your car," Brass told her with a smirk.

She seemed a bit surprised but something her last pet had told her about criminals always messing up at sometime made her smile. Her last pet was rather smart. "Is that so? I wonder how that got there?" She asked smugly.

"Knock it off, Lady. We got enough to hold you for awhile now," Brass said.

There was a knock on the interrogation room door. Grissom got up to get it. Nick stood there, he asked Grissom to come out for a moment.

"We saw Greg. I got him to ID her. His reaction when he saw her photo said everything. She is the one who's responsible for putting him in the hospital."

"Well, we already got a blood match from her car on the first victim, so this just gives us more solid evidence. How is he, anyway?" Grissom asked.

Nick looked somber. "I asked him too soon, Gris. I should have waited. When I showed him her photo he got sick, literally and started shaking. We had to leave him alone. Catherine ripped into me about upsetting him. I feel like crap about it now."

"He's in a situation that none of us can really relate to. Who knows if later on he would have reacted any better, Nick? All we can do is be there for him and make sure this woman who did this to him pays."

Nick nodded. "Okay, that's all I want too."

Grissom smiled at him and then went back into the interrogation room. He sat down with a grin on his face. "Well it seems we have someone who can positively ID you. Your last victim came out of his coma and he has identified you via your booking photo as the person who abducted and tortured him."

He watched as her eyes flickered with shock at first but quickly recovered to her cool calm. "Really? And who is this man who claims that I am his assailant?" She asked coyly.

"This man you picked up on March 4th at the Hush Nightclub. We have the bartender there who says he saw you with a red-haired wig on with our victim, Greg Sanders. You seem to have a very poor memory, Miss Weaver."

She narrowed her eyes at Captain Brass. "I think I want a lawyer now." She grinned but inside she was furious with herself. She should have made sure he was dead. She screwed up big time because she got a little soft with him. She had seen him hold his breath but still felt he received a sufficient amount to kill him. Now he was awake and able to testify against her. The blood was minor evidence to her, having a 'pet' still alive was worse.

Brass and Grissom exchanged smirks at her lawyering up. "Okay, well we will be officially booking you on 4 accounts of murder and attempted murder and assault on Greg Sanders. Hope you have a good lawyer." Brass grinned at her as he had the officer come and put the handcuffs on her and take her away.


	11. Closed off

A few hours later, Greg woke up cautiously again wondering who might be in his room this time. After Nick and Catherine left he had an uncomfortable visit with his parents. He was still not up to speaking to anyone, so communication was based on a nod or shake of his head.

Given what happened to him, they did not know what to say to him but that they were there if he needed anything and that they loved him. He had not shown hardly any emotion since Nick had shown him her photo. He tried to bury all the memories of the last week far away in his head. He found that if he thought about what happened to him he would feel sick and the memories would engulf him, making him barely able to breathe. But it was hard to push those memories out of his head with the pain he was in and knowing how the pain came about.

He turned on his side, as he felt most comfortable that way and stared out the window at the twilight sky. As much as he tried to bury the sporadic memories he could not. He had nothing to distract him from them. If he closed his eyes it was even worse but yet he was still so tired it was hard for him to stay awake.

He was just about dozing off again when he heard his name. He had not heard anyone come in. He knew the voice very well. He swallowed nervously; scared to acknowledge the man he admired so much. He felt stupid and embarrassed for Grissom to even see him like this. It was the idea that they all knew what happened to him that made it that much harder to face them all, but Grissom was the worst.

"Greg?" He said again softly. Greg figured if he acted like he was sleeping he might go away.

"Greg, I know what happened when Nick and Catherine were here. Nick feels terrible about approaching you so soon on it, but he's been feeling guilty about nagging you to get out more. He somehow feels responsible."

Greg sighed quietly. He never even thought of blaming Nick for anything. It was his stupidity and not being more cautious that got him into the situation.

Grissom knew Greg was listening but since he was not responding he decided to walk over to the side of the bed. Greg looked up when he saw Grissom come over. Grissom could see the pain and humiliation still in Greg's dark eyes.

"I don't expect you to respond, Greg. I just wanted to let you know we did everything we could to find you in time. I'm sorry we did not find you sooner. I'm only glad to see that you somehow found the strength to fight the drug and come back to us."

Greg looked down. He did not feel like he fought at all, if anything he wished he had inhaled the entire drug back in that basement.

"We have her in custody now. We found blood evidence matched to Jeffrey Parker in her trunk. You're identifying her helps keep her in lockup."

Greg vaguely remembered her opening the trunk, he did not remember if he was put in it or not. He trembled a bit just remembering how cold he felt, as he was sure death had been fast approaching at that time.

Grissom noticed Greg tremble and then close his eyes. Greg must have had some memories of what happened to him. Since he had not spoken to anyone yet, no one knew just how much he had remembered or how many times she tortured him without being drugged.

Grissom frowned, feeling he had managed to upset Greg by even mentioning her. He bit his lip. "I'm going to let you rest some more. I'll see you again soon. Perhaps you'll be able to tell us what happened someday but we won't push for now. Goodnight, Greg."

Greg did not acknowledge him when Grissom left. He kept his eyes tightly shut, fighting to not let the memories he was trying to hide from surface again. He tried something he had tried earlier to occupy his mind, he started going over chemical formulas in his head. It was the only thing he was able to focus on without images of her coming into his mind. He fell asleep without those horrible memories invading his sleep.

--

Nick paced the interrogation room as Brass stared across the table at Robin Weaver and her lawyer. "You know it would be better if you just told us where you held the men while you tortured them," Brass told her.

Robin looked over at her female lawyer then cocked her head back to Brass. "I still don't know what you are talking about. I've done nothing."

"We have a dead man's blood in your car, lady and one victim who has identified you by your photo. Knock off the innocent act," Nick yelled as his temper flared.

"My client has nothing to say to you all right now, so if you don't mind this interrogation is over," the lawyer got up and her client just smiled sarcastically at Brass and Nick.

As an officer led Robin and her lawyer out of the room, Nick slammed his fists on the table. "Damn it Brass, I am sick of this woman. How do we know she does not have some other guy still held wherever it is she holds them?"

"We don't. I'm afraid the only way we might find out her place is to talk to Greg and see if he has any memories of where she held him," Brass suggested to him.

Nick ran his hand over his head in frustration and sighed. "I know but he's not ready to talk about it yet. Hell, he is not even talking to anyone yet. I don't want to push him if he is not ready. I already pushed him just showing him her photo. I can't put him through that again."

"Well, then we just keep searching for clues to the location until she tells us or we can get an idea from Greg."

"He may not even remember anything with that drug having been used on him," Nick said.

"Well he did remember her though," Brass reminded him.

"Yeah," Nick sighed again, he was there when Greg got physically ill at seeing her photo. He would never forget it. "I know."

--

He studied Greg a moment before saying anything. "You're physical injuries are starting to come along nicely, aside from a few permanent issues, but I am concerned that you are not speaking to anyone yet. I'm going to have Dr. Rayon come and see you. He is a psychiatrist here on staff that has dealt with many sexual assault cases." Dr. Ford noticed Greg suddenly look at him appalled.

"It's what happened to you, Greg. You can try to deny it or push away the memories but it won't change what happened. Dr. Rayon can help you. I'll have him come by soon."

Greg closed his eyes and scowled. He did not want to talk to some doctor that knew nothing of what he went through.

He heard a knock at the door and opened his eyes again. Dr. Ford turned around to see who it was.

"Is this a bad time to visit?" Catherine asked as she peeked her head in.

"No, I was just about to leave." Dr. Ford looked back to Greg. "I'll send Dr. Rayon to see you soon and I'll check on you before I leave today." Greg responded by looking out the window. Dr. Ford frowned and went to the door where Catherine asked to have a word with him for a minute.

They went outside the room to talk. "How is he doing?" She asked him.

"Well physically he is slowly getting better but he is still in a lot of pain from certain injuries. Don't expect him to be awake for long; I just administered another dose of morphine for him. Emotionally, he's closed off, still not talking to anyone. I'm having one of our best psychiatrists assigned to him and going to probably see him later today."

"That's good to know. I can't imagine what he must be going through. I mean we do not even know what he remembers due to the drug."

"True and it is slightly possible the drug is why he is acting the way he is. I mean we do not have a lot of research on how this drug affects the mind in large doses. Overall when we ran a CAT scan there seemed to be very little brain damage from his time in the coma or the drug, but we do not know about long term effects."

"Well thanks for doing all you can for him." She looked through the window at him. "He should have never had to go through this," she shook her head.

"I agree. You take care and just try to have normal conversations with him. I know it is hard but try anyway," he suggested to her.

"Thanks I will."

She went ahead into the room and smiled at Greg, who turned back to see her walk in.

"Hey Greg. I just wanted to check up on you, see how you are?" He just looked at her with no tell tale sign of how he was feeling.

She sat down and went to reach for his hand, but he quickly pulled it away. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I forgot you don't like anyone to touch you. I guess I can understand that." She noticed the flicker of sadness in his eyes and then he looked away.

"I guess you are not up for visitors right now so I will go. I hope one of these days you will be able to talk to us again." She got up and left his room feeling dejected.

He felt bad about turning away from her, but it was true he was not up for visitors. He was never up for visitors. He was better off when he was alone, rather than seeing their pitying faces. He could not keep his eyes open much longer and decided to give into sleep.

--

"Did you see Greg?" Warrick asked Catherine as she came into the break room.

"Yeah. It was a short visit. He's still not talking to anyone and he pulled away from me again. I wish I knew what was going through his head," she sighed as she poured a cup of coffee.

Nick was in the room too. "Has anyone talked to his doctor?"

"I actually did. He was just leaving Greg as I came in. He is getting one of their psychiatrists to talk to him."  
"That's good. Maybe he can get Greg to finally talk to us and maybe we can get him to tell us if he remembers where she held him. She still will not tell us and she still keeps saying she is innocent. Yeah right!" Nick sneered.

Warrick smirked at him. "She's really gotten under your skin, hasn't she?"

"Yeah and I guess I still feel somewhat responsible for making him feel he needed to get out and date."

"We've already told you how silly that is, Nick. He's a grown, single man. He might have gone out anyway without you nagging him." Warrick told him.

"I know, I know." Nick groaned.

Grissom came in. "Okay guys, I know we have been concerned about Greg's case, but we do have some others out there that need to be worked too. I have some here." He handed out assignments and they all got back to work.


	12. Memories

**A/N-A special treat tonight, two new chapters I decided to post. Call it is Memorial Day gift (for readers in the U.S.). LOL This chapter Greg finally starts to talk some.**

* * *

Later that day Dr. Jacob Rayon came into talk to Greg. Greg studied the short, 50-something doctor with graying temples and blue eyes, as the doctor took the seat next to his bed after he introduced himself.

Greg eyed the man cautiously as he started to talk. "So, let me tell you a little about myself first. I've been here at Desert Palms for 13 years. I've dealt with all sorts of trauma patients and yes even a couple of male sexual assaults. As you know from your job, we have all sorts of crime victims here in Las Vegas. I heard that you were one of the CSI's working on the case?"

Greg nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "That had to be tough knowing you were now one of those victims," Dr. Rayon said to him seeing how he would react. Greg turned his head partially to stare up at the ceiling.

"You know, keeping silent isn't going to make it go away. It will only fester more inside you, eating you up. You have to talk about what you remember."

After Greg still gave him the silent treatment, he spoke some more. "Greg, I'm here to help you. It is usually easier to talk to someone about things like this when there is no personal connection or agenda. I won't judge you, Greg, but you can't stay silent like this forever."

Greg had been listening to everything he was saying and knew he had a point but he still had his fears about speaking. He swallowed hard as he stared up at the ceiling. "If I start to talk, they will ask things…ask things I am not ready to answer," he finally admitted out loud.

"I heard you got physically sick when the suspect's photo was shown to you?"

Greg closed his eyes, remembering the humiliating moment. "Yes, I did."

Dr. Rayon could see that this bothered Greg. "What if I was there when they question you about what happened and if there is a point you feel you can't continue, you can give me a signal and I will stop them," he suggested to his uneasy patient.

Greg looked at him again. "Yeah, maybe that would work."

"And we can ask them to keep off topic otherwise if I am not here with you," Dr. Rayon told him.

"Them staying off topic will not be easy, I know," Greg frowned.

"I'll talk with them then and let them know that you have limits to what you will discuss. If they have your best interests at heart, they will do it." Greg nodded doubtfully.

"Do you actually remember much of what happened?" Dr. Rayon asked him carefully. He noticed Greg's body tense up.

"Not much," Greg answered hesitantly. He did not want to reveal how much he did remember. Dr. Rayon did not completely believe his answer. He felt that Greg would not be acting the way he was if he hardly remembered what happened.

"Any of that not much you care to talk about right now?"

Greg looked away again. "Not now. I'm really tired, Doc. I think my meds are kicking in."

"Okay Greg. I'll talk to your supervisor and let him know you are ready to talk a little." Dr. Rayon waited for Greg to respond but then realized he really had fallen asleep. He smiled and then left his room quietly.

--

The next evening Grissom and Nick waited for Dr. Rayon to meet them outside Greg's room. Grissom was happy to hear that the doctor had finally got Greg to talk and that he was willing to try talking about what he could remember from his abduction.

The short doctor approached them in the hallway. He put out his hand. "Hello, I assume you are Gil Grissom and Nick Stokes. I was told you two were here waiting for me. Sorry you had to wait, but I was finishing up with another patient."

Grissom shook his hand and then Nick offered his. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Rayon. We are glad to hear that you were able to get through to Greg."

"Well I am not making any promises on how much information he will have for you. I want to go in first and prepare him, then I will let you two come." They both nodded and watched as Dr. Rayon went into Greg's room.

"Hello Greg," Dr. Rayon greeted him as he came into his room. Greg turned his head from staring out the window and saw his doctor. He did not say anything to him. The doctor frowned a bit. "Your friends from work are here to talk to you like we agreed. Are you ready or are you going to back out of it?"  
Greg looked down at the foot of the bed. He did not want to talk about any of it and yet the investigator in him knew he really had to try and help them. "I'm not feeling too great. Got a bit of a headache, so I don't want them here long, but I will still talk to them."

"Good Greg and I know you are still far from being well, so I will let them know just to keep it to a couple of questions for now." Dr. Rayon went to the door and opened it up. "Greg is ready but only for a few questions. He's not feeling too well today."

Nick and Grissom both nodded in agreement. "We won't push him," Nick said, still feeling bad about the last time. He had not seen Greg since then because of how he felt.

Greg felt his heartbeat quicken as Grissom and Nick walked in. He started feeling slightly panicked. Dr. Rayon immediately noticed how Greg tensed up and seemed very nervous, if not scared. "Are you okay, Greg?" He asked his patient in concern.

Greg looked away from the worried faces of Nick and Grissom, to his doctor. He nodded his head as he stared at his doctor, feeling better that he was already reading his reaction.

"Greg, we are not here to upset you. We are just hoping you might remember where she took you and held you. She will not tell us anything. Anything you might remember can possibly help us," Grissom told him.

Greg had turned to Grissom when he started talking. He took a deep breath before trying to tell them what he did recall about where he was.

"I, uh, don't remember much about where I was." He blew out a breath as he felt his stomach flutter nervously. He tried to continue on. "It was a basement or maybe a cellar. I don't know how I got down there but I remember a little as she took me out of there before the drug fully took effect. She untied me and helped me up because I could hardly do it on my own. Upstairs looked like some converted old bar into a living space or something. Then she…she took me to another door, which opened up to a warehouse of some cars and stuff. Last I remember is her taking me towards some sort of black sedan." He heaved a sigh of relief managing to say all of it without throwing up.

Nick looked at Grissom. He had been hoping that perhaps Greg would know more. "Do you remember a sign or anything that might help more?" Nick asked Greg.

Greg looked directly at Nick for the first time since he walked in the room. The expression in his eyes told Nick that Greg had already told him all he knew. "No, I don't." Greg said flatly to him.

"That's okay, G. Don't worry about it."

Grissom decided to try another line of questioning. "So you saw where you were held, in a cellar. Was there anything down in that cellar that might clue us into being in the correct place?"

Greg remembered her black trunk and shuddered. He looked up at the ceiling as the memories started flooding in again. He wanted to push them away into their hiding place again.

"Greg, are you okay? Do you want them to stop now?" Dr. Rayon asked him suddenly very concerned at how pale Greg got. But Greg just spoke very softly. "A black trunk with all her _toys_ in it." He emphasized the word 'toys' in an eerie way. Greg could now clearly remember her coming to him after taking one of her 'toys' out of the box for her 'pet'. He felt like he might get sick. He suddenly panicked. "Doc, please!"

That was the signal for Dr. Rayon to escort the two CSI's out of his room quickly. Greg grabbed the bedpan on his side table and released the little contents of his stomach out once they left the room.

"I'm sorry. Like I said he is in a very delicate state right now, that is why I have to stand in on your official business visits."

Grissom shook his head. "That's okay, Dr. Rayon. I guess we have not really realized how much this has affected him yet but I am getting an idea now."

Nick stayed quiet. Twice now he had seen Greg react that way. Nick really wanted to get his hands on that bitch.

The doctor said goodbye to them and went back in to check on his patient. He saw Greg's pale, scared face pop up when he came into the door again. "It's just me, Greg. They have left." He saw Greg put the bedpan on the table.

Dr. Rayon came up closer to him. "You remembered something, didn't you? Something bad."

Greg just nodded with his head lowered. "I'm not going to press you to talk about it now, but you will have to someday."

Greg sunk his head back into his pillow and closed his eyes. He never wanted to talk about it. He just wanted to forget. "I'm tired, Doc," he told him hoping he would leave now too.

"Okay. I'll check on you tomorrow. I'll send in someone to clean this up for you," he said regarding the bedpan. Greg nodded.

After Dr. Rayon left, Greg started doing his chemical compounds in his head again to forget.


	13. Finally Found

A/N-Thanks again for all your reviews. I am glad you are all enjoying this story. It is my favorite one to write so far. I'm trying to post a new chapter every 2-3 days now.

* * *

They stared at a blown up area map of Las Vegas in the vicinity of where all the victims had been taken and dumped. Also they had a list of buildings that were vacant or that fit the description Greg gave them of a bar and warehouse connected together.

"Okay so by looking at the map here, we have about seven locations that could possibly be the place we are looking for. We will split into two teams. Catherine and Warrick, you two go with Detective Vega to these three locations." Grissom marked them on the address list. "Brass, Nick, and I will hit the other four locations. The minute you find it let us know. Let's find her place and get this case wrapped up tight."

Catherine and Warrick headed out with their list. They got their kits and left the lab.

Brass waited at the first location until Grissom and Nick arrived. "So you two ready to check this place out?" He asked the two CSI's.

"Let's go," Nick said to him. He hoped one of the seven locations the team was going through would finally be the one that held all the answers.

The first two locations they went into had nothing in them but a couple of sleeping homeless people. They asked the men if they ever saw the woman in their photos but they had not.

They had just finished going through their 3rd location when Warrick called them. "All of our locations came up duds," he told Grissom.

"Okay, we have one more place to hit and if this is not the place we will head back to the lab and expand our search area," Grissom told him.

"Catherine and Warrick came up with nothing. I told them to head back for now. Let's get to our last location," Grissom told Brass and Nick after he got off the phone with Warrick.

They pulled up to the warehouse, which like the others had an adjoining abandoned bar space. The place had been empty for the last two years but was owned by a South American Corporation. Brass went ahead of Grissom and Nick, as always, with his gun drawn. Grissom and Nick came behind him with theirs out too. Brass opened the warehouse garage door.

Inside they saw three cars. Nick and Grissom came in behind Brass. Nick immediately recognized the one car. "That's Greg's car," he said pointing to the Volkswagen.

They walked in further, their flashlights illuminating the way. They looked inside the cars; nothing seemed abnormal about the cars. "What did she plan on doing with their cars?" Brass wondered.

"There are two missing. I mean she had five victims but only three cars," Grissom noted.

"Maybe she had it scraped already," Nick suggested.

"Let's go on and see what else we find," Grissom said.

Brass led the way again. He found the door that attached to the lounge. He busted open the door. They walked in and saw that the lounge had been made into a living space. On the far side was a cot with a small dresser. There was a lounging chair and a small TV with rabbit ears. Overall the place still looked like an empty bar. Grissom flashed his light around and saw a door next to the bar. He pushed it open and saw a small kitchen area, probably where they prepared appetizers when the lounge was open and where she cooked for herself. He looked around and saw another door with a bolt lock on it.

"Brass, Nick, come in here. I think this might be the door to the cellar."

They both came in. Grissom unlocked the bolt lock and opened the door and Brass went ahead with his gun drawn, down the staircase. Grissom and Nick followed closely behind him. At the bottom of the stairs, Brass found a light switch. He turned it on.

They all could now see the space through the dim lighting. They came to the bottom and scanned the cellar. There was not much in it. They saw a long metal bar bolted into the wall across from the stairs. Nick took some photos and then they each walked in separate directions.

Nick headed towards the back wall, while Grissom walked to where the metal bar was. "Grissom, it's here," Nick called out to him. Nick swallowed hard seeing the black metal trunk that terrified Greg so much to make him ill.

Grissom and Brass both came over to where Nick stood. A wooden chair sat next to the trunk. "There is no lock on it," Nick said. Nick got out his camera and snapped a few shots before Grissom opened it up with his gloved hands. Nick took more photos of the contents inside before they started taking them out.

Inside were a couple of braided whips, the electrode clamp device they had been shown a photo of, some sort of clubs, chains, a bottle of rubbing alcohol and then a few wax coated envelopes.

Nick pulled out one of the whips. He looked at it carefully. He took out his Luminol from his kit and sprayed it. It turned blue in some spots. "We got blood on this," Nick told him.

"I'm sure that is not the only item that will have blood on it," Brass responded.

Nick looked at the envelopes. He took great caution in looking inside one. "I found our drug. I bet it is what is in these envelopes. I'll handle them carefully and get them ready for Henry to look at."

"Good." Grissom headed back to the metal bar on the wall. He looked down at the cement floor and could see some traces of blood. It looked like she had cleaned it up mostly but he still saw some. He knew a lot of that blood probably would come up as Greg's and it tore him apart inside.

"Call Catherine and Warrick and tell them to meet us down here. We have a lot of work to do," Grissom told Nick. He did not want to leave any little bit of evidence behind that could lock this woman away for life.

--

Greg had just finished having another awkward one-sided visit with his parents. It was them doing all the talking and him just nodding or shaking his head. They tried their best to talk around what happened to him but he could always tell by his mother's eyes, always on the verge of tears, that it was always on their minds. He just could not talk to them. He knew they deserved better but he could not deal with them right now on top of everything else.

Dr. Rayon came into his room a few minutes later. He had just talked to Greg's parents and found out that Greg was not talking again. That had concerned him. When he walked into Greg's room, Greg was in his new usual position, lying on his side, facing the window. He noticed Greg always flinched a bit when someone came into his room.

"Greg, it is Dr. Rayon. I just talked with your parents. They told me you were not responding verbally to them again."

When Greg did not move or say anything, he came around the side of his bed and sat down in front of the window. Greg glared at him as he blocked his view out of the window.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Greg asked with sadness in his tone.

"No, I can't, Greg. I'm concerned for you. It seems to me you are trying to suppress your memories of what happened. If you keep doing this or avoid talking about it, it will only grow worse and eat you up."

Greg just ignored him and slowly and painfully rolled onto his back. Finally when he settled onto his back and his pain subsided some from the movement, he spoke again. "My body won't let me forget," he said as his voice cracked with emotion.

Dr. Rayon was somewhat surprised at his show of emotion. Aside from the moment when Greg had brought up the black trunk, Greg always seemed to show little emotion when he spoke. He had yet to actually see him cry or anything else but get physically sick.

"That is true, your body will never be the same again. Dr. Ford has discussed with me that you will be scarred for life and that you will have difficulty for awhile just sitting comfortably." He watched Greg close his eyes and then saw a tear roll down the side of his face.

He sighed, seeing his patient like this. "I also know you are not eating, Greg. Are you trying to starve yourself to death?"

"Maybe," Greg whispered. Dr. Rayon was not happy with that response. It gave him a good idea of what might be going on inside Greg's head.

"Do you wish you had died like the others did, Greg?"

Greg did not respond this time. Dr. Rayon frowned. "Greg, you've been given a second chance to live. You are only 32 years old. You have over half your life still in front of you. Don't let what happened to you take over your life."

Greg thought it was easy for this guy to say that. He was not damaged for life. He was not scared anytime someone came in the room, fearing she was coming back to torture him some more. Dr. Rayon had no idea.

"Okay, fine. Don't respond but think about what I said. I will be back tomorrow to see you again."

Greg was glad when the doctor left. He pushed the button Dr. Ford had provided for him to self medicate the morphine into his body. The pain all over his body was still bad. He just wanted that drugged sleep state again.

--

Grissom and Catherine went through the upstairs of Robin Weaver's so-called home. He was going through her drawers when he saw a roll of black plastic. "I think I found the source of the little piece of plastic Nick found in the trunk of her car," he said out loud to Catherine.

"I found her portfolio and a camera and some equipment under her bed. It is a professional 35mm camera. There is a roll of film in it. 14 pictures have been taken. We will have to take it back to the lab to get it developed," Catherine told him.

"Well, I think they are coming to take the cars to impound and Nick and Warrick are finishing up the warehouse. I think we've got everything for now from up here. Let's head back to the lab and start getting this stuff processed."

They finished bagging the last items they found as possible evidence and headed out to the warehouse.

"Hey Gris, check this out," Warrick called out to him from a corner in the warehouse. Warrick was standing by a large steel barrel. "Look inside." Warrick flashed his light down into the barrel for Grissom.

Grissom saw burned remains of possible clothes and the smell of burnt plastic. "Looks like she burned their clothes and maybe the plastic she used to cover the bodies."

"I'll get the contents bagged and take it to Hodges," Warrick told him.

"Okay, it is getting late. Let's take what we have now back to the lab and start processing it all tomorrow. This had been a long enough shift. She's not going anywhere anymore," Grissom told his team as they gathered their things in the back of their Denali's.


	14. The Bad News

**Thanks for the reviews!! I do appreciate them. This chapter you get to find out some of the lasting medical effects of what happened to Greg.  
**

* * *

Grissom felt he owed Greg a thank you for being able to tell them what he could remember of the place because it really did help them find it. As he came into his room, he saw the curtain drawn around his bed. He could hear Dr. Ford's voice. "Almost done, just a couple more and we are done for the day." Then he heard Greg whimper in pain. He decided to back out of the room for the time being.

Hearing Greg in pain like that really bothered him. He really wondered if Greg would ever be the same again. He had seen the photos and seen what was all done to him. He knew he would be scarred for life. Greg already had scars from the lab explosion but those would be minor now compared and Grissom was already able to see his emotional scars ran deeper.

"Oh Mr. Grissom, I did not know you were out here," Dr. Ford said as he exited the room with a nurse.

"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to him for a little bit but I saw you were busy with him."

"You can try talking to him but he has gone back to not talking much again. Plus, I just cleaned and changed his bandages, so I am sure he will be out soon on the morphine, but go ahead."

"Thanks Dr. Ford. I won't be long," Grissom told him.

He walked in and Greg opened his eyes and looked at him with cautiousness. "I'm not going to be long, Greg. I just wanted to thank you for the information you provided us. We were able to locate where she held you and the others. We now should have enough evidence against her to keep her locked up for life."

"That's good, I guess," he said quietly.

Grissom smiled a little. "It is Greg. She won't be free ever again to do what she did to you and the others."

Greg nodded a little but he knew no matter what happened to her, he would never be free of her. His sad eyes closed and looked away from Grissom. He could not stand for his boss to see him like this.

Grissom bit his lip. He hated seeing his youngest CSI this way. He hoped he would find his way to get past what happened to him and move on. He knew it would take time though.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that. I know Dr. Ford told me you needed your rest, so I will go now. Goodnight, Greg."

--

Nick stood in the Trace Lab, waiting for Hodges to give him his answer. "Yes, it is a match to the black plastic you found in the trunk of her car and the burnt plastic bits from the barrel. So this woman knew how to cover her tracks pretty well. Oh and there were also rope remains in the barrel burnt up. It matched the nylon rope Grissom found."

"Thanks Hodges," Nick said to the lab tech.

"Hey Nick, I got results on the blood from the whips. It's a little from Mark Probst but mostly Greg's," Wendy said somberly as she came into the room.

"Thanks, that's kind of what I figured but had to be sure. What about any epithelial from the handles?" He asked her.

"I'm still waiting on those results."

"Thanks, let us know when you get them back. I got to check on some other things now. See you later."

After Nick walked off, Hodges asked Wendy if she had visited Greg at all. She shook her head. "No, I don't know what I would say to him. I would feel too weird around him, you know?"

Hodges scrunched his face up. "Yeah I do not even want to imagine it. The guy has some horrible luck, glad it is not me."

"Don't give him a hard time when he comes back," Wendy narrowed her eyes at Hodges.

"Don't worry, I'll try to avoid him at all costs if he comes back."

"What do you mean, 'if he comes back?'" She asked him with her hands on her hips.

"Hey, I'm just saying would you want to come back to a job like this after being a victim again of one of the cases you were working on? Hell no, I say," Hodges shook his head.

Wendy thought for a moment. "I guess you have a point. He could maybe just work in the lab again," she shrugged.

"We don't need two DNA techs on nights," Hodges smirked.

"Well maybe one of us can go to days," she grinned, knowing he would want Greg on days.

"Yeah I suppose Greg could go to days," he said.

"Or me," she grinned wider. His mouth hung open a moment before Warrick interrupted them.

"Hey Hodges! You got my fibers from that scene I gave you yet?" Warrick asked him.

"Uh, yeah sure," he stammered.

Wendy waved goodbye to him and headed back to her lab with a smile.

--

"Grissom, so far all the blood found at the scene matches Greg," Nick told his boss as he sat in his office. "I just came from seeing Wendy again. She just got the results from the epithelials on the whip handles and it matches Robin Weaver. Henry also said the powder in the envelopes is a raw form of Scopolamine. We have plenty of solid evidence against her now to put her away for life, maybe even the death penalty."

Grissom had still been thinking about Greg. "It's good but really it will not help Greg much."

"What do you mean? We have the woman who did this to him." He replied incredulously.

"Yeah, but the damage is done. He will never be the same," Grissom told him.

Nick sighed. "She still wins, doesn't she? I suppose we will never find out why she did it."

"We have not asked her that yet. Perhaps we will next time we talk to her," Grissom mused.

--

"So Greg, are you going to talk to me today or still give me the silent treatment again?" Dr. Rayon asked the surly younger man.

Greg was in a different kind of mood this day. He looked angry and glared at the doctor who stood at the foot of his bed. "I'm sick of this place," Greg groaned. "I've been here 3 weeks now, granted 5 days in a coma, but still."

Dr. Rayon actually smiled. He was happy to see that Greg wanted to get out of the hospital, but he was still concerned that he was hardly eating. "Greg, I know you are still not really eating. I can tell just by looking at you. Your parents are very concerned."

He saw Greg roll his eyes. "Yeah well they've always been like that," he said snarkily to the doctor.

"You will not get released if you do not start eating. You need to build your strength back up. Dr. Ford will not release you if you can't get around well on your own."

"I'll try to eat more, okay?" Greg uttered.

"I hope you are not just saying that to make me happy."

Greg glared at Dr. Rayon again. "No, I am not."

"Okay, so since you seem to be talking, do you want to tell me anything of what you remember?" Dr. Rayon tried again with his patient.

"Nope, nothing to say because I hardly remember," he lied looking straight-faced at the doctor, as he felt a headache brewing.

"Okay, fine. How about we discuss how you feel about the on going physical problems you will have due to what happened to you?"

Greg's anger faded. "What problems are you referring to?" He asked timidly, knowing what he was probably referring to since Dr. Ford confirmed his fears earlier that day putting him in the sour mood.

"You know what it is Greg. That due to the injuries you sustained, the penile fracture and other problems due to not being treated right away, you are probably going to endure some pain during sexual intercourse and possible be impotent."

Greg's face fully fell hearing it again for the second time that day. He did not know how to respond, he still had not wrapped his mind around it yet. Instead his head just pounded more.

"It's not going to be easy for a man your age suddenly to have these problems and the reason why they came about. Is that what you really feel angry about today? Are you angry that this happened to you?"

Greg glared at him, his eyes growing darker. "Wouldn't you be angry? Pissed off at the world if it was you?"

"I would be, yes, but this is about you."

"It's something I'm just going to have to learn to live with, isn't it?" Greg replied solemnly.

"It's not going to be that easy," Dr. Rayon told him.

Greg seemed to become distant, gazing at nothing in particular. "It never is." Greg became lost in thoughts of what his future would be like now. He could not see a good future for himself anymore.

"Greg? Are you listening to me?" Dr. Rayon asked with concern after Greg did not respond the first two times he said his name. He touched Greg on his arm and Greg nearly jumped out of bed. Greg's heart was racing and staring at him with terrified eyes.

"Greg, she's not here. She's in jail," Dr. Rayon said to him.

Greg eased back into his pillow and shut his eyes. He needed to stop reacting like that every time someone touched him, he knew that but he only thought of her painful touch.

"Greg?"

"I'm fine," he replied rapidly and looked at the doctor.

"I beg to differ. No one can even touch you without you freaking out. Why does it bother you so much for people to touch you? Do you still see her when others touch you? You can talk about it to me." Dr. Rayon was not going to let him slide by on this anymore.

Greg glowered at the doctor. "I'm not a child, so stop talking to me like I am one."

"Well you are acting like one by avoiding the question," the doctor stared back.

Greg gazed at Dr. Rayon a moment, contemplating his answer. Finally the anger faded from his face as he lowered his head. "She would always touch me in a soft, teasing manner before she inflicted the pain."

Dr. Rayon could not see Greg's face but he could tell by the slight shakiness in his voice that Greg had more memories than he had been letting on. "She was the only one to touch you with an intent to hurt you afterward. Your family and your friends would not hurt you, you know that."

He nodded his head a bit. "It's just that," he sighed before going on. "You know about 5 years ago I was in an explosion in the lab. For a period of time after that my hands would keep shaking. My boss eventually noticed it. I felt like a weak fool. He said the shaking would go away after a while and it did. Then last year I was beat up in the line of duty and I was responsible for killing a man. I had nightmares and could not sleep for a few months, but again that passed. This…I don't know. This left real permanent, deep scars. I don't think I can get past it this time," his voice wavered.

Dr. Rayon was pleased his patient was finally opening up some. "There is no time clock on your getting over it, Greg. If you got past the last two, I think you can this one. It just will take a lot longer."

He looked up at the doctor with dark eyes. "I think you are wrong, Doc. It is different this time. I feel different."

"Why is it different this time?"

Greg looked directly in his eyes. "Because I wish I had died."

Dr. Rayon was troubled by his answer. "You were happy to be alive the other two times, but not this time?"

Greg still stared at him. "No," he said bitterly.

Dr. Rayon could feel the coldness emanating from Greg's response. "I see. Well, that is what we have to work on changing. You have a lot of people out there that care about you, doesn't that matter?"  
"Their lives go on with or without me," he said with finality to it. His headache was full blown now. He just wanted Dr. Rayon to leave.

"I bet they don't feel that way. What about your parents?"

Greg put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. "I really don't want to talk anymore today. I'm tired."

"I'm not going to let this go so easily, Greg," the doctor implied that he would continue.

The pounding in his head had him keeping his eyes closed. "I know that, Doc. But I'm not going to say anymore today. This is it. Goodbye, Dr. Rayon."

The doctor studied his troubled patient a minute before just leaving the room. He went up to the nurses' station. "I want a close watch on Mr. Sanders," he told the desk nurse.

"Why? Is he sick again?"

"No, but I am worried about his emotional state. Make sure there is nothing in his room that he can use to harm himself with. I'm not worried about him leaving. I know he is still too weak to do that. Just keep an eye on him and arrange for Dr. Ford to see me about him sometime soon."

"Okay Dr. Rayon," the nurse confirmed.

Dr. Rayon peeked in the window of his patient's room one last time, seeing him turning on his side away from view. He frowned and hoped he would be able to get through to Greg the next day.


	15. Photographs

"So Archie, do you have the film from the camera ready?" Catherine asked the AV tech as she and Grissom came into his lab area.

"Yeah I just got it ready. I have not looked at the photos yet."

"Okay, pull them up one by one and let's see if it is more of her weird portfolio photos of men on the streets or something else," Grissom said of her previous photos. She actually did seem to be a photographer, but most of her photos were of people just doing ordinary things, mostly men though.

"There are about 14 photos on the roll. Here let me pull up the first one. Whoa!" Archie exclaimed when the photo of a naked man tied up and bloodied came up.

"That's her first victim, isn't it?" Catherine asked Grissom.

Grissom looked at the very clear and graphic photo of the man. "Yes it is. That was taken in her cellar. She must have taken it when he was passed out at some point. Let's see the next one, Archie."

The next one appeared to be the same man but turned over on his stomach.

"Do you think she was taking photos of her _work_ on him?" Archie asked as he studied the photos.

"It's possible. Go on to the next ones," Grissom instructed Archie. The next few photos were of the second victim.

Catherine stopped Archie from going any further. She looked at Grissom with worry. "Greg is probably on this roll too," she said with her voice thick.

"I know. Archie do you mind?" Archie knew Grissom wanted to spare Greg any further embarrassment by having anyone else not directly on the case seeing the photos.

"Yeah sure. It's around my break time anyway. Let me know when break is over."

"Thanks Archie. I owe you one," Grissom told him.

"No, you don't. I completely understand."

Grissom looked over at Catherine after Archie walked out. "Are you going to be okay with this?"

She nodded her head somberly. "Let's just get this over with."

Grissom went through the next 6 photos which were of the 3rd and 4th victims, two distant, full body photos of the males and two closer up, focusing on the cuts and bruises to their bodies.

Catherine could not help but gasp as he went to the next frame. It was Greg. His arms bound above him like the others and the rest of him sprawled out naked on the cement basement floor, his body full of deep blood painted lacerations and bruises.

Grissom's jaw twitched with fury as he advanced through the next 4 frames, all different images of the brutality that the woman put Greg through.

"My God," Catherine exclaimed as tears filled her eyes. "He's never going to be the same, is he?"

Grissom's mouth twisted. "No, I do not think so."

"Gil, he can never know about these photos. It would kill him," Catherine said to him.

"I agree."

--

Grissom headed down to LVPD with determination. Catherine sat beside him in the Denali. They were going to bring the new evidence they had against Robin Weaver.

As they were about to walk into Central, Grissom's cell phone rang. "Grissom here."

"Hey it is Nick. My digging around paid off. Robin Weaver is not her birth name and she is not from Arizona. Her real name is Isabella Maraña. She was born in Santa Maria, Columbia but moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was an infant. Her mother died when she was 8. She has a medical file that was buried deep but she was admitted to the hospital twice before she was 18, once for a broken arm and a bruised kidney. She had other bruises too and it was said to be due to a bicycle accident. Then when she was 17 she was admitted with head trauma. She was in a coma for a couple months. Again she had other bruises and injuries. The father was held accountable and got 25 years in prison. He was killed about 5 years ago in a prison fight. Isabella Maraña disappeared after her 18th birthday. Her foster family claimed she was abducted and never heard from her again. Well, it seems Isabella knew someone to give her a new identity, Robin Weaver. That's why we could not find much on her prior to the last few years. It was buried deep, so whoever gave her the new identity did well."

"Great job, Nick. Catherine and I are paying her and her lawyer a visit right now. This will be interesting news to spring on her. I'll fill you in on how it goes when we get back."

Grissom quickly filled in Catherine on the new development before they met with Brass. Brass was then filled in on everything new, including the photos before they went in to confront their killer.

She sat smugly next to her lawyer as the three law enforcement people came in. She had on the orange jail jumpsuit and her hands were cuffed to the table.

"Hello Miss Weaver or should I say Miss Maraña," Brass smirked at her.

Her hazel eyes went wide with shock. She was speechless. Her lawyer noticed her reaction but stayed cool. "I'm sorry. My client's name is Robin Weaver."

"Oh, it is legally now but up until she was 18, she was known as Isabella Maraña from Santa Maria, Columbia, isn't that right, Isabella?" Brass asked, still grinning with satisfaction at finally shaking her up.

Isabella took a couple deep breaths before replacing her shocked look with her smug calmness. "Well it seems someone has been doing a lot of homework. So I had name legally changed, big deal. It does not make me a killer."

"No, but perhaps abuse by your father has given you your male hatred issues," Grissom told her.

Again her smugness died off a little. "Is that all you got today?" She asked finally.

"Oh no, we are just getting started. We found out where you live and found boatloads of evidence against you. Oh and we found your portfolio and some possible new additions to it I'm not sure anyone would buy," Catherine told her.

Robin felt her world slowly crumbling around her. She did not respond. Her lawyer looked at her suspiciously then turned back to the CSI's.

"What sort of evidence do you have now?"

"Enough for your client to be locked up for life or maybe even get the death penalty. We have blood evidence from the victims and most incriminating are the photos from her camera of all the victims tied up, naked and beaten in her basement."

The lawyer looked at her client angrily. "I need a moment with my client alone, please."

As the CSI's stepped out with Brass, he grinned. "Looks like she has not told her lawyer everything."

"No, apparently not. She knows we've got her," Grissom said.

"Do you think she will talk to us now?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know. We will have to see," Grissom told her.

They went back into the interrogation room after her lawyer told them they were ready. They noticed a bit of tension between the lawyer and her client as they re-entered the room.

"My client does admit to having her name changed at the age of 18, but she does prefer to go by her current name," the lawyer told them.

"That is fine. We have a question as to where you got the Scopolamine. We found envelopes of the drug in your black trunk in your cellar along with the items you used to torture the men," Grissom said directly to Robin.

She shrugged. "I have my ways."

"Is it old family connections or friends in Columbia?" Brass asked her, knowing the drug was prevalent there.

She stared at him with disinterest. "My client is reserving her right to remain silent." Her lawyer said for her. Then Robin glared at her lawyer.

"Can I have a moment alone with them?" Robin asked. Her lawyer looked shocked.

"I highly advise against that."

"Just a moment," she sneered at her.

"Fine, but do not harass my client," she directed towards the others in the room.

After her lawyer left, Robin leaned forward in her chair and gazed at the three others in the room. "I'll tell only one person everything," she said to them.

"Fine," Brass said and was about to dismiss the two CSI's when she stopped him.

"No, none of you. I will only talk to Greg," she smiled.

Catherine bounced up. "Hell no! After what you did to him! He is still in the hospital because of you."

Robin leaned back in her chair. "That is my deal. I want to talk to him. I will confess to him, alone!" She said with determined eyes.

"What if he refuses?" Grissom asked and held up a hand before Catherine could protest.

"Well, I guess you will never know the why and the who and the where," she smirked.

"So unless he agrees to talk to you, you refuse to say anything else?" Brass asked for clarification.

"That's right."

"Well, you know, we really have enough against you that we do not need a confession," he told her.

"True, but wouldn't you like to know if I've done this before, elsewhere?" She smirked.

Grissom looked at Brass. They had not checked if any other cities had similar crimes.

"We will see what happens, but I do not think Greg will want to talk to you, alone," Grissom told her.

"Oh well then, I guess your loss," she smiled smugly.

The lawyer came back in and was filled in then on her deal. She did not like it. She advised against a private meeting of any sort. They left her to argue with her lawyer.

"We can't let that crazy woman near Greg again. She devastated him," Catherine pleaded.

"Yeah but it is Greg's decision," Grissom told her.

"He's still in the hospital, for heaven's sake, Gil."

"I know. We will wait to tell him about it for now. We'll have to talk to his doctor about it first," Grissom said, knowing he would best know if Greg would be ready or not.

* * *

_A/N- Poor Greg, huh?! I really do love the guy even though it may not seem like it. LOL_


	16. Friendship

Nick had decided it was time to visit Greg on a non-business purpose. He came up to his room just as an orderly was assisting him back into his bed.

"Oh sorry, I guess I have bad timing," Nick apologized to the male orderly and Greg. Greg still could not deal with any of the female nurses touching him, so he always had a male one assigned to him.

"No, that is okay. I am just leaving now." Nick waited until the orderly left before he came in completely. He noticed Greg staring at him with curiosity.

"What are you hiding behind your back?" Greg asked him as he noticed Nick clearly hiding something.

"Oh, uh," he pulled forward the bag and placed it on Greg's table. "I got you some real food from Antonio's. I figured you could use a decent meal."

The smell of the Italian food teased Greg's hunger. He opened it up to see what Nick got him. "Oh, chicken parmesan. Well my doctor will be happy."

Nick took a seat. "Why is that?"

"He's been nagging me to eat and at least this actually looks appealing to me." The words sounded like Greg was enthused but his expression did not show it. He took the food out of the bag and spread it out in front of him on the table.

"So do you know when you will get out of here?" Nick asked him as Greg started eating.

"Not sure yet, maybe in a few more days. One doc is satisfied with my progress but the other isn't," Greg frowned then took another bite of the chicken.

"What do you mean by that?"

Greg sighed and started picking at his food. "Dr. Ford says I am about ready to be on my own but Dr. Rayon thinks I need to be watched over more."

Nick studied Greg's dour expression. "What does he mean by that?"

"I told him something I probably should not have. I had just had some bad news and well was feeling really down. Now he is all watchful over me. He thinks I do not realize that the nurses look at me cautiously and everything. I think he forgets what I do for a living. I can figure these things out," Greg said defensively.

Nick smiled a little. It was nice to hear Greg talking. "Dr. Rayon is just doing his job too. Whatever you said must have really worried him."

"Yeah well whatever. I am sick of this bed and this whole place. I want to go home where I can be alone," he groaned.

"What bad news did you get?" Nick asked him, wanting to know what more could have gone wrong for him.

He noticed Greg freeze on the spot, his face turning sheet white. _'Oh shit, I blew it again,'_ Nick thought to himself. "Look, don't tell me. I don't need to know. It is your business," he quickly said before he made things worse.

Greg closed his eyes a moment and shook his head. Nick was basically his best friend. Would Nick think less of him? Greg let out a breath and looked at Nick. "I can trust you not to tell anyone else, right?"

Nick nodded his head. "Yeah of course, Greg. Always." Nick wondered what had him bothered so much.

Greg started nodding his head and slowly turned away from him. "You know, she messed me up pretty good," his voice sounding shaky as he spoke.

"Yeah, I know Greg. I don't know if you know but I rode in the ambulance with you here," Nick told him softly.

Greg turned his head slightly towards Nick. "You did?"

"Yeah I did," Nick smiled some. Then he saw Greg's eyes get watery. Nick was not sure what to do.

Greg cast his sad brown eyes downward. "So you probably took the photos, right? You saw." His voice was thick with sadness.

Nick felt horrible yet again seeing Greg so vulnerable. "I'm sorry, Greg."

Greg shook his head. "No, don't be. You were just doing your job. I know that. It's just…really, really difficult, you know." Greg pressed his palm to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut, as he felt a dull throb in his head start.

Nick felt helpless. He did not know what he could do for Greg. They both remained quiet for a while.

Suddenly Greg spoke very softly. "I'm probably impotent and most likely any future sexual experiences for me will not be an exact pleasure for me. The surgery did not go as well as they hoped when they did it when I first got here. They said because I did not have the needed medical attention right away after it happened and then she made it worse during the time she had me, they did the best they could."

Nick's mouth was agape. "Damn Greg. I am so sorry, man. I really am." He watched as the younger man wiped his eyes.

Greg tried to prevent loosing control over his emotions. He did not want to completely loose it in front of Nick. "Guess you don't have to worry about me dating anymore."

"Greg, it's my fault this happened to you. I should never have pressured you to go out." Nick then heard a strangled chuckle come out of Greg.

"Yeah, like you did this to me. Nick, don't go blaming yourself. I choose to go. You did not make me do anything I would not have eventually. I was the idiot who should have realized she was drugging my drink instead of trying to make out with her." All of the sudden he shuddered even remembering that he was making out with that monster.

"Greg, damn I would have fallen for her act too. She's a beautiful woman, but she is seriously messed up. She was abused and probably assaulted as a child by her father, we found out."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out," Greg whispered.

"She had her name legally changed when she turned 18 and pretty much took on a whole new identity," Nick told him. He watched as Greg's food got cold, while Greg rubbed his temples. He knew why Greg had lost so much weight now.

"You know, I just meant to come here, see how you were and give you a good meal. I didn't mean to mess it up," Nick apologized.

Greg had forgotten about the food. He looked at it now and his stomach churned. "It's not your fault. You meant well." He looked at Nick again, his eyes rimmed red but not watery anymore. "Thanks for trying to feed me anyway." He smiled a little but it faded quickly.

Nick felt that maybe Greg needed something to connect with him on. "Maybe if I told you something, you know, I've only told Catherine this due to a case we were working on ages ago, but when I was nine, I had a new babysitter. She, well she molested me. I know it's not the same as the torture you suffered but I know a little about what you are going through."

Greg stared at him in shock. "I'm so sorry, Nick. I had no idea."

Nick shook his head. "Nah, it happened so long ago. I've dealt with it. Given time, so will you with your ordeal. Next time I'll bring you food and leave you to eat it in peace. We don't need the doctors getting on your case about that, too," Nick attempted a grin.

Greg looked Nick in the eyes. "You are a good friend, Nick. Probably my best friend."

"I feel the same about you, Greg. You look like you could use some rest. I'll leave you alone now." Nick got up and cleaned up the food for Greg before he left.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Greg."

"Bye," Greg said solemnly and laid back and closed his eyes to sleep.

Nick walked out feeling the concern about Greg that Dr. Rayon must have felt. He bit back tears, knowing his friend would never be the same.

--

"Hey Nick, why the long face?" Warrick asked his co-worker as he came into the locker room.

"I just came from seeing Greg."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Warrick asked worriedly.

Nick looked at him, sadness in his eyes. "He's in bad shape and I'm at a loss on how to help him."

"That's what the doctors are there for, man. Just be a friend," Warrick sympathized.

"I know but I somehow feel like she gets it easy by just sitting in jail, while he is suffering physically and mentally from what she did to him."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes it feels like the criminals are getting nothing compared to what victims have to live with the rest of their lives. You know Greg just needs time."

"It's already been like 3 weeks since he's been out of the coma. He said his psychiatrist is leery of releasing him yet and I can see why. There is just no hope or spark or anything remotely like our old Greg there in his eyes anymore." Nick sighed and shook his head. "He's hardly eating too. You can tell just by looking at him. I brought some food but he hardly ate any of it."

"Yeah I noticed how thin he looked last time I saw him, but really three weeks is not long. After what he went through, it will take a lot more time emotionally. Let's just not worry so much about him and get back to work. You know Grissom is probably waiting on us."  
They walked into Grissom's office where Catherine sat across from him and seemed irritated. Grissom looked up when he saw them.

"I'm glad you two are here. We need to let you know on a new development with Robin Weaver."

Nick got an angry look on his face. "What now?"

"She says she will confess everything but only to Greg. She wants a private audience with him."

"What? No way. After what she did to him? She just wants to mess with him more since he is her only surviving victim. I just saw him, Gris. He's in no shape to deal with her now," Nick raised his voice.

"Nick, calm down. We have no intention of telling him about this right now. I'm going to bring it up to his doctor first and let his doctor tell him about the offer when he thinks Greg can possibly deal with it. I just wanted to let you two know she is refusing to tell us anymore," Grissom told Nick calmly.

"Doesn't matter, we got enough evidence on her to send her anyway with or without one," Warrick said.

"Yes, but she hinted she may have had prior victims elsewhere," Catherine said.

"She's probably bullshitting us," Nick fumed.

"That could very well be. Brass is checking into similar crimes elsewhere possibly in connection to her for now," Grissom told them.

"So now that that is settled, let's work on the new cases we have." Grissom handed out assignments to his team. It was more work for them now that Greg was gone for a while. Grissom had a feeling Greg would not be back for sometime, either. He was already short a team member since Sara left, being down two members now. They were all working overtime to make up the difference.


	17. Going Home

**A/N- Again thanks for all the reviews. Greg finds out about the offer in this chapter. How will he react?**

* * *

Greg had just come back from a walk around the hospital corridors. It was still somewhat painful to walk but he liked not being in the hospital room. His regular nurse was always with him when he took his walks in case he got too weak, but he usually did not anymore. His motivation was to get checked out of the hospital where he could have some freedom again.

His parents had to go back home due to their jobs, but they called him everyday to check on him. He had only been in his room a couple minutes when they called.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got back from a walk around the halls again. I hope I can go home in a couple days," Greg told them before they wished him well and sent their love to him.

Greg had decided the only way he was going to convince Dr. Rayon to let him go home was to fake like he was feeling better about everything. It was growing easier for him to do because he found ways to not think of the things that threw him off and upset him. Anytime the torture she put him through started to pop up in his head, he started doing chemical formulas. His parents before they left had brought him some of his books from home so he could use them to remember ones he had forgotten. Lying was becoming easier now.

He had just turned on the TV when his least favorite doctor came in, but he greeted him nonetheless. "Hello Dr. Rayon. I missed you yesterday," he said sarcastically as he turned off the TV.

Dr. Rayon narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Greg. "I had an emergency to handle with another patient. I heard that you've been eating and been in better spirits. Are you just doing this so you can be released soon?"

Greg lowered his head a bit. "You have no faith in me, I see." Greg lifted his eyes and stared at the doctor.

"No Greg, that's not it. A few days ago you tell me you wish you had died and now you seem to be eager to live your life. People don't change that quickly."

Greg frowned. "I've had some good talks with my friends and parents that have changed my views on things." He had the talks, which were true, but he still was not feeling too good on his future, but he was not going to admit that to anyone any more.

"Well that is good to hear but I have still decided to start you on an antidepressant. I know Dr. Ford has taken you off the morphine and you are now on Darvocet. I'm going to try you on Zoloft first. It should be okay with your Darvocet."

Greg's mouth hung open in surprise. "You're putting me on an antidepressant?"

"Yes. I think it will help you. Why does it bother you?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

Greg scowled. He was sick of the questions and he was not even sure why he did not want to be on an antidepressant. "I don't like the idea of being on a bunch of drugs."

"I can understand that and it may only be temporary. If you go on them I will be willing to release you at the same time Dr. Ford does."

Greg's eyes lit up. "Really? Dr. Ford said he thinks I can get out of here in a couple of days."

"Well there will be another stipulation to my deal. I will want to see you 4 times a week still, until I feel we can lessen your visits."

Greg knew he would have to continue seeing the shrink until he cleared him. He did not like it but he could continue with it. Dr. Rayon was not a bad guy; Greg just did not feel like being an open book to him about what happened.

"Okay, I can deal with that offer. I'm just sick of this joint. I feel like…I dunno," he sighed.

"Like you're being held against your will again?" Dr. Rayon suggested as an answer.

Greg eyed him cautiously before responding. "Not exactly the same thing, but sort of feeling like it's against my will at this point. I mean Dr. Ford said I am getting my strength back and I've been walking around the last few days."

"I know I've heard and glad you are making the effort. That is why I feel that you can go home soon but with help of an antidepressant. I know you are smart Greg, smart enough to try and pull the wool over my eyes about your grand new viewpoint on life…a change from just 3 days ago." Dr. Rayon saw his patient's face show slow defeat.

Greg turned away feeling frustrated all of the sudden. He did not want to be watched over like a hawk again and he felt that since Dr. Rayon knew he was putting on an act he would watch him again.

Dr. Rayon did not want Greg to feel overly defensive again. "I know this had been tough for you and I really am trying not to make it any harder on you. I heard that you were a fun person to be around before, always pretty much in a good mood. I'm just trying to get a glimmer of that back."

Greg felt his eyes get wet. He could not see any happiness in his future at this point. She had ruined his outlook on life. "Okay, I'll take the antidepressant. I guess it won't hurt any."

Dr. Rayon could hear the anguish in Greg's voice. Slowly he was breaking through his brick wall. Dr. Rayon decided to try his luck. "They should help you Greg. And if this one does not there are others we can try. Since we are talking, maybe you could tell me if you have remembered anything new?"

Greg sighed; the doctor was not giving up. Greg gave him some credit for that. Greg pondered a moment on saying anything. The doctor could see through his lies he knew that now. "I've started having some nightmares," he said humbly.

The doctor nodded. "That's to be expected. Are they clear or muddled?"

"I don't know. A little of both I guess," he shrugged as he looked at the doctor again.

"There was not as much of the drug in your system, Greg. I know you have memories that you are not telling me or anyone else for that matter. Your nightmares will probably get worse if you do not talk about it."

Greg was sick of this conversation. He finally blew. "Yes, I do remember things, things I wish I did not remember but I have no intention of telling you about them or anyone else for that matter. It's my business, my life. It's not for anyone else to know about. I just want to forget, damn it! Let me just forget!" Greg's body vibrated from the anger and frustration inside him.

"Greg, I'm just trying to help you," Dr. Rayon told him calmly, trying to ease his angry patient.

Greg stared at him, eyes pleading. "If you really want to help me, just leave me alone."

Dr. Rayon had been standing. He finally went over and took a seat next to Greg's bed. "I know you want to forget, but you never will and you know that."

Greg threw his head back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. He knew the doctor was right.

"There's been something I've been waiting to tell you. I think you need to hear this now. Your boss, Gil Grissom told me that the woman who tortured you, Robin Weaver, wants to talk to you."

Greg turned suddenly towards him, his eyes wide. "What?" He did not understand why his doctor would tease him about such a thing.

"She told them that she would confess to everything but only to you. She would not tell anyone else."

Greg felt confused and unsure of everything suddenly. "When did she say this?"

"I've known for about three days now. I was waiting to tell you until I thought you could deal with it. I'm telling you now because I am thinking maybe seeing her face to face again and seeing that she is locked up now is the way for you to move on." He noticed Greg did not respond. He seemed to be in a bit of shock.

"I'm going to give you a few days to think about it. Then you can let me know what you think. In the meantime, I'm going to get you started on the Zoloft."

Greg picked up his head again and looked at the doctor. "Think about it, Greg and let me know," Dr. Rayon told him. He patted Greg on the arm gently and Greg did not flinch. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Greg's eyes followed him as he walked out the door and closed it. Greg sunk his head back in the pillow. _She wants to see me again to confess to her crimes_. He felt anxiety grip at his chest. _She can't hurt me anymore or can she?_ He wondered to himself. If he never went to her, they would never know all her motives and where she got the drug. Plus she would win. Dr. Rayon had a point; perhaps seeing her again would help him put it behind him. But deep down he was terrified at the additional damaged she could inflict upon him.

Another day had passed and Greg still had not made his decision regarding seeing his attacker. Dr. Rayon felt it was good that he was at least thinking it over still.

Greg's nightmares had worsened though since he heard she wanted to see him. He was on the antidepressant now, but it had not started working yet. He did not tell Dr. Rayon about his dreams getting worse. He knew the doctor would only get on his case more.

Despite all that, Greg was in a better mood that day. He was officially being released from the hospital. He was waiting on Nick to take him home.

Dr. Ford and Dr. Rayon both came in at the same time. Greg was sitting on the side of his bed in sweatpants and a black t-shirt when he heard the two come in.

"Well, it must be nice to be in regular clothes again and knowing you are getting to go home," Dr. Ford said to his patient, who actually had a slight smile on his face.

"It's great. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again," Greg said to him.

"You have your medication ready to take home with you?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

_The serious doctor_, Greg thought as he rolled his eyes. "Yes, right here," he lifted a white paper bag with his pill bottles in it, rattling.

"Yes, he's ready to go. Just make sure you come in next week and I can remove those remaining stitches," Dr. Ford told Greg.

"And I will see you tomorrow, Greg, at 2pm right?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

Greg sighed. "Yes, I will be by, I promise."

Dr. Rayon smiled. "That's good to hear. We will discuss if you made a decision on that matter we have."

Greg nodded. "Okay."

A nurse came in with a wheelchair. Nick followed in behind her. He looked at Greg. "You ready to get out of here?"

"You betcha." Greg got up slowly and walked a couple feet to the wheelchair and sat down slowly in it, grimacing slightly as he still hurt some.

"Take care, Greg. We're glad you are going home finally," Dr. Rayon told him.

Greg blushed slightly. "Thanks, to both of you."

Nick wheeled him out of the room, towards the elevators. "So how does it feel to be finally going home?"

Greg took a deep breath. "It's nice to know I won't be watched over every second anymore. I just want to be on my own again."

"Well, you will have that again," Nick smiled at his friend as they got into his car for his trip home.


	18. Decision Time

_A/N- Thanks again for the reviews. Keep them coming. Greg makes his decision regarding seeing Robin Weaver in this chapter._

* * *

Greg was quiet on the drive home, just taking in being out in the world again as they drove past the casinos and clubs.

When they pulled into his apartment complex lot, he noticed his car parked in its spot. Nick did not notice the slight shiver Greg made at seeing his car. Greg knew the last time he was in his car he was drugged up not knowing what he was doing as she controlled him.

Nick saw Greg looking at his car. "We had it cleaned out really well after we finished going through it."

Greg nodded as he got out of Nick's car and grabbed his bag of prescriptions. Nick helped Greg up the one flight of stairs to his apartment.

As Nick opened the door for Greg, he explained to him that he cleaned his place up some and put some fresh groceries into his refrigerator.

"You didn't have to do that, Nick," Greg said as he heaved a sigh of relief being able to sit on his couch again.

"No man, it was Catherine's idea, actually. So we both did it. She did the cleaning. I got the food. I know what you like," Nick grinned as he put down the small duffle bag of Greg's few belonging from the hospital and sat in a chair in the living room.

"Well thanks anyway. You two really did not have to," Greg said sheepishly.

"We just wanted to make your homecoming smoother is all," he told Greg. He thought Greg would have seemed happier to be home but he seemed rather serious.

"Do you know about 'her' wanting to see me? To confess to me?" Greg asked in a low voice, staring straight ahead.

At first Nick was not sure what he was talking about but when Greg mentioned confess he knew what it was.

"How did you find out?" Nick asked Greg, feeling more concerned now.

"Dr. Rayon told me two days ago. I have not made a decision yet," Greg said as he turned towards Nick.

"Is that what he was referring to when he said you'd discuss your decision?"

Greg nodded.

Nick shook his head. "I think it is a bad idea, Greg. She is seriously messed up."

Greg tilted his head as he stared at Nick. "I know that," he said dryly.

"Sorry, G. I can be thoughtless at times. I'm just saying I think she is just going to mess with you more, mentally, you know," Nick told his friend with concern.

"You don't think I can handle it?" Greg asked with accusation in his voice.

"Honestly, I don't know. You avoid anything regarding the subject of her pretty much. I know what it is like to have something traumatic happen and just want to forget about it," Nick sympathized, but Greg did not see it that way.

"You being buried alive is completely different than being tortured and fucking raped by some crazy bitch," Greg yelled at him. He jumped up and walked off into his kitchen.

Nick sat shell-shocked for a moment, staring at the space where Greg had just been sitting. He finally broke out of it and turned to see Greg leaning over his kitchen counter on his elbows with his head in his hands. He started shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Nick. I was wrong to say that. You went through hell too. I forgot about what you told me at the hospital. I had no right to say that."

Nick stood up and came over by Greg. "No, it is okay. It is different situations."

"Yeah but still I'm just a fool. I'm a fool for falling for her game, thinking this hot chick really wanted me. She was just looking for some guy to dupe and play her games with. Well, she found one in me."

Nick still was not able to see Greg's face, but he could tell by the anguish in his voice how he was. "Greg, stop beating yourself up about this. If you can so easily berate yourself, she'll only work that against you. She has to be pissed that you lived, she'll want payback."

"But me talking to her, I can get some answers, for the case and for me, right?" Greg asked as he looked up at Nick at last.

"Well that could happen and there is a possibility that she had other victims in another city. There are a few missing men in Tempe, AZ where she use to live about 4 years ago."

"Are you serious? So she may have killed before her current spree?" Greg asked, shocked she had more possibly in her past. "So if I talk to her we could find out for sure."

"Maybe, but I'm still thinking it is not a good idea," Nick advised him.

"Well thanks for being honest with me. I'll think about it some more," Greg told Nick with a hint of a smile.

"Do you want to order a pizza and watch a movie or something? I'm off tonight. Just to take your mind off things for awhile," Nick suggested.

"Sure why not. Thanks Nick," Greg smiled at Nick before heading back into his living room.

--

The next day Greg arrived at Dr. Rayon's office a couple minutes late as he had fallen asleep on his couch after not sleeping well his first night at home alone. Thoughts of her plagued him awake and asleep. He had made his decision finally and was going to let Dr. Rayon know.

"Greg, I was beginning to wonder where you were," Dr. Rayon said as Greg walked into his office located in a building next to the hospital.

"I'm sorry about that. I accidentally fell back asleep on my couch. I did not sleep well, wrestling with what I wanted to do about seeing _her_." He could not say her name.

"So you've made a decision then?" Dr. Rayon asked as Greg sat down in a comfy chair across from the doctor.

"Yes I have. I want to talk to her."

Dr. Rayon could read the nervousness in Greg's voice. "Can you tell me why you made this decision?"

"Well I talked to Nick about it and he told me that there is a possibility she killed others in another city and the only way we might know this is if I talk to her," Greg told him.

"I hope that is not your only reason," Dr. Rayon said with eyebrows raised.

"Uh, not exactly. I guess I need to find out for myself why she did what she did and just to face her again." Greg did basically know her motives from when he asked her back when she had him, but he was curious how she felt about him being alive.

"Do you think you can handle it if she taunts you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."

Dr. Rayon chuckled a bit. "You guess? That's not enough to convince me you should go through with it."

Greg sighed. "I've been a CSI now for almost 4 years and before that working in the lab for years. I've been around criminals enough to be able to deal with one locked up."

"Greg, this isn't just a regular criminal that you've simply helped lock away. This person tortured you for almost four days. As you told me yourself, you have permanent scars from her. It will not be as easy to face her like others."

"Okay, I know that. I don't know what to tell you. It's just something that needs to be done, that is the only way I can explain it," Greg replied agitatedly. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"So you think it will help you to see her and talk to her? Well if you feel like you can deal with it, I'll have them set it up. I think I should be there," Dr. Rayon told him.

"Why? Have I done something to make you think I will go crazy or something?" Greg asked him, feeling anger surge. "I'm taking your damn pills and I am here, aren't I?"

Dr. Rayon was startled by his outburst. "I just thought if I was there it would help for future sessions so I know what was said and we can discuss it," Dr. Rayon explained to his angry patient.

Greg lowered his eyes and frowned. "I'm sorry. I just feel like you do not trust me at all." His voice was normal tone again.

"Well Greg, it's not trusting you as much as it is wondering how well you will really handle talking about what happened. You always manage to avoid it. Seeing her, it will be thrown in your face directly again. If you can't deal with it now, what makes you think seeing her will be any easier? I think it would be worse for you."

Greg stared down at the floor. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his temples. "It's now or never," he simply said.

Dr. Rayon contemplated his response for a moment. "So you just rather do it now and get it over with? Otherwise you think you will back off and not do it at all?"

"Pretty much," Greg said as he raised his eyes up again, with a resigned expression on his face.

Dr. Rayon sighed. "Greg, it would just be so much easier if you opened up more to me."

"I know. I just need a little more time. Maybe after I've dealt with her I can deal with everything."

"She could make things worse, you do realize that, right?"

Greg swallowed and nodded. "And that's really why you want to be there, but so will my friends. She may want to talk to me alone but I know you will all be on the other side of that mirror for me."

Dr. Rayon smiled at him. "Okay so we will set it up, then maybe you can finally move on with your life."


	19. Round Two

**A/N- I decided to not make you all wait for the rematch...so to speak between Greg and his attacker. So here it is. I love feedback, so keep it coming**.

* * *

Greg parked in the LVPD parking garage. He turned off the car engine and just sat there taking a few deep breaths to keep his stomach from doing flip-flops. Two days ago he made the decision to meet with the woman who had made his life a living hell. Now he was about to step foot into hell again.

It felt weird for him to walk into the police station again. It had been over a month since he was last there. He could feel people's eyes following him as he walked through the entrance and headed towards Captain Brass' office where he was meeting up with everyone before heading to actually see her.

He rounded the corner and saw them waiting for him. He knew he was late. He had not slept in the last two days and he almost backed out completely.

"Greg, we were beginning to wonder if you were going to come," Nick said to him as he came into the office.

"Uh, no. Sorry, I just…nerves I guess," he shrugged as he stood in the doorway.

"That's to be expected," Dr. Rayon said to him. He stood next to Grissom, whom Greg's eyes fell upon.

"If you have changed your mind on going through with this Greg, we will completely understand," Grissom told him as he could see the apprehension in his CSI's eyes.

"Let's just get this over with," Greg said to them.

"Okay, I'll call down and have them bring her into the interrogation room," Brass told him. He got on the phone and made the call.

"We will all be in the other room, watching. She made it clear to us she would not say anything unless it was only you and her in the room," Grissom told him.

"The second you want to end it, just say the word," Nick said to him.

Greg just nodded, his mind wandering back to his time as her prisoner.

"Make sure you ask her about where she got the drugs and if there are others in Tempe, Arizona she killed," Brass said to him.

"I will," he said as he rubbed his right temple.

"Are you feeling okay, Greg?" Dr. Rayon asked as he noticed the grimace on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a slight headache," he replied and quickly lowered his hand.

"Okay let's head over then," Brass said to all of them.

Greg nodded again and followed the others. Only Dr. Rayon walked behind Greg, watching him carefully, unsure if he should have waited longer.

They went into the viewing room first. Greg could see her sitting in the orange jail jumpsuit, her hands cuffed to the table. His jaw twitched nervously as he looked at her, sitting there smugly. Her hair was longer now, completely covering her scar.

"Are you ready to go in there, Greg?" Brass asked him.

"Yeah, I'll go," he said calmly.

A couple minutes later they were there. "We will be here listening and there will be an officer right outside the door should you need one," Brass informed him.

Greg nodded again. He quickly glanced at the concerned faces of Nick, Grissom and Dr. Rayon before walking out of the viewing room.

He nodded to the officer who stood guard outside the door. The officer opened the door for Greg to go in.

She looked up and smiled maliciously as she saw Greg walk in. His eyes burned into hers as he came in and cautiously took the chair across the table from her, sitting down carefully as he was still healing.

She stared at him, awed that he got up the nerve to face her. "I was beginning to think they were lying to me saying you lived, but look at you. A bit thinner than I recall but otherwise you look better than the last time I saw you, My Pet," she smirked as she stressed her signature term again.

His face hardened at hearing the term again. He never told anyone how she always called him 'pet'. Greg ignored the comments and tried to focus on what he was really there for.

"They say you hinted that there might be others out there that you tortured and killed. Were any of these men in Arizona, where you used to live?"

She stared at him with fascination. "My, aren't you all down to business? Don't you want to catch up at all? I'd love to know how you are feeling. I noticed you grimaced a little when you sat down…still hurts doesn't it? I know, it does for quite a long time before it completely heals."

Greg felt his fear step aside for the anger that was building inside him began to take over. "Shut up and just answer the question or I am out of here."

She pouted, her hazel eyes twinkling mischievously. "Aw, I liked you so much better all submissive, My Pet."

"Stop calling me that," he muttered angrily under his breath.

Back in the viewing room, Nick spoke up. "I told you all she wants to do is mess with him."

"Why does she keep saying to him, 'my pet'?" Brass asked.

"My guess is that it is a term she used back when she held him captive," Dr. Rayon said as he carefully watched Greg holding his own.

"Someone like her would probably use a term like that to degrade her prisoners even more," Grissom added.

In the interrogation room, Robin sighed. "Maybe there was one man that got too touchy feely with me back in Arizona and I showed him who was boss, like I showed you and the others. You all can't use me anymore. I just use you."

Greg held steady but he could feel the rage building. "Does this man have a name? Where is he now?"

She cocked her head at him. "You really take this investigating stuff seriously. It kind of turns me on," she grinned.

His eyes threw daggers at her. "Answer the damn questions," he demanded.

She leaned back in her chair casually. "His name was Ron something or another. I whipped him until he almost begged for death and then burned him alive and buried his remains in my old backyard," she said with no remorse.

Greg's rage took a backseat to his disgust and shock at her coldness at the moment. "You are seriously fucked up. What about the Scopolamine? Where did you get it from?"  
"Mi Amiga en Columbia. Ella puede ser apenas tan malvada como puede ser," she spoke for the first time in her native tongue.

He knew enough Spanish to understand what she said. "Does she have a name or a place where we can find her?"

"¿Por qúe usted sabe un cierto Español? Me impresionada."

"I know enough. Now a name or where we can find her."

"I could give you her name but it will do you no good. If she knows I am in jail, I can guarantee she already took on a new identity."

"So she is the one who gave you the Robin Weaver identity?" He asked her, feeling more confident now that he was getting some answers from her.

"Yes, she was. We both came from abusive homes so we bonded as we got older. She moved back to Columbia and told me how Scopolamine was being used in raw form down there. She used it herself and started sending me some."

"How did she get it through customs?"

"That's her secret to tell, not mine." She grew sick of the questions and decided to turn the tables back onto him. She leaned forward again and he instinctively moved away from her. "Aw still scared of me. I think we should talk about you some more and how you are dealing with things, My Pet."

Hearing the humiliating term again started to really rattle him. "Stop calling me that," he said through gritted teeth.

She leaned as far forward as she could now and whispered so only Greg could hear her. "You know I'm kind of glad you are still alive. I think you were my favorite. You actually brought me a lot of pleasure, like when I took your cock inside of me when you were in a drugged state. You came inside me. I think you were enjoying it too."

She spoke of things he had no memory of but it sickened his stomach nonetheless. "Stop it," he growled lowly.

"But I got the most pleasure when you screamed at me to stop the pain when you were not drugged. Seeing that ultimate fear and pain in your eyes, practically begging for death."

His jaw started twitching again from the fury building inside him. "Shut up. You are the one locked up now and helpless."

"Oh yes, but at least I got my dignity still. What was it like seeing those photos I took of you all naked and spread out to my liking?"

Greg's face turned white suddenly. "What photos?" He asked in a whisper.

--

"What is going on in there? I bet she is taunting him. We should stop it." Nick said furiously.

"Perhaps she is but so far he seems to be okay," Dr. Rayon said, but he was beginning to think this had been a bad idea. He had no idea what this woman was really capable of doing to Greg.

--

"Oh they did not tell you?" She laughed wickedly. "Aw trying to protect your fragile ego, I bet. The photos I took of all of you when you were out of it. I told you I was an artist…you just did not know what kind."

"You are sick and sadistic and telling me lies."

"Oh no, that red-headed female and the graying older man told me they saw them. Yes, My Pet, I took photos of you all beaten, bloody and naked; posed and beautiful. I wonder what would happen if those fell into the wrong hands and got plastered all over the internet? Poor Pet, you would be so mortified." She laughed cruelly.

He took a deep, trembling breath before he breathed out in a warning, "You are a lying bitch. You are locked up now."

"But you know what is probably more humiliating is knowing that I am the last woman that you ever got_ it_ up in," she smiled smugly before she suddenly saw Greg jump out of his seat and come across the table, his hands wrapping around her throat as he began to choke her.

Nick and the others bolted out of the room the second they saw Greg loose it. Nick was the first one to reach Greg as the officer went to the prisoner. Nick grabbed Greg around the waist and pulled him off of her. "You crazy, sick bitch," Greg yelled at her as he tried to shake off Nick.

Her eyes were wide with shock and amusement. The officer held her as she yelled back at Greg. "See, you call me crazy but look at you now, My Pet. You are going to be just like me. You are already halfway there, first choking then torturing and murder is next." She held her hands to her own neck now as to make a point.

"They fucked me up and looked what happened to me. I fucked you up and now it is your turn. It's a sick cycle we are on together now, My Pet, unless you have the guts I never had and you know what I mean." She stared him down.

"Get her out of here now," Brass demanded and went with the officer and led her out.

"I'll be with you forever now, My Pet. You will never forget me," she yelled out just before she was out of sight.

Nick and Grissom both held onto Greg now as he fought to get loose and get to her again in a rage. Dr. Rayon noticed the unhinged look in his patient's eyes and was alarmed.

"She is just messing with you, man. You can't let her get to you like that," Nick told him.

Greg breathed heavily but finally stopped fighting to go after her. He held up his hands in surrender. "You can let go now," he told them with some heat in his voice still.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked him cautiously, not liking how irate he still seemed.

"Yes, I am sure. I am not going to go after her." He glared at Nick as he straighten his shirt out after they let go.

"Okay, but damn, you could have killed her, not that I blame you but still," Nick sighed.

"Yeah well I didn't," he frowned as he felt his anger cool down as he started to think about what she said to him.

Both Grissom and Dr. Rayon had been silently watching him. He felt their eyes upon him and he finally looked at both of them. "I'm sorry I lost control. I thought I was okay," he apologized to them feeling embarrassed about it now.

"What was she telling you that got you so worked up, Greg?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

"She was taunting him that was what she was doing," Nick said to his defense.

Dr. Rayon glared at Nick a moment because he wanted Greg to answer. "She kept calling you her 'pet'. Did she call you that before?"

Greg turned directly to the doctor. "Yes, but I do not care to get into a discussion about it right now, Doctor," he told him sternly. Dr. Rayon was taken back by his aggressive response.

Greg then turned to Grissom. "Can we talk privately for a minute, please?"

Grissom could see that Greg had something on his mind and nodded. "Sure. Why don't we go into the viewing room?"

"Okay," Greg nodded and then dismissed the looks that Nick and Dr. Rayon gave him and followed Grissom.

"What's going on? What did she say to you?" Grissom asked him as he closed the door behind him. He noticed Greg's anger was gone now and what was back was the fear.

"She told me she took photos of her victims; of me. She said you and Catherine knew of them. Is it true?" His voice wobbled a little as he asked.

Grissom's expression became very somber. He could not lie to him. "Yes, it is true. We saw them."

Greg slowly nodded his head in disbelief. He was hoping she had just been taunting him. It was bad enough Nick had to take the photos of him for evidence, but knowing that she took photos of him as some kind of her own artistic statement nauseated him again. He could no longer look at Grissom. "I want to see them."

Grissom's mouth opened and then closed immediately. "I do not think that is a good idea, right now."

Greg got up the courage to look Grissom in his eyes. "I want to see them. I have a right."

Grissom could see the distress but determination in his eyes. He nodded against his better judgment. "Okay, you are right. You do have a right to see them. We have to go to the lab. They are logged in evidence there. I just want you to know only myself, Catherine, and the DA and her attorney have seen them so far."

He nodded his head meekly. "I see."

"Before we go out, I wanted to tell you that you did good in there. You got some information we needed. You held up pretty well." Grissom gave him a little encouragement.

Greg's melancholy eyes glanced at him. "No I didn't, but thanks for saying I did." With that he walked away, leaving Grissom feeling troubled by his young CSI's demeanor.


	20. The Naked Truth

Things were quiet on the way to the lab. Greg and Grissom had to make Dr. Rayon and Nick aware of the photos in order to explain the trip to the lab and part of Greg's reaction. He asked for Grissom to be the only one to accompany him to see the photos. Dr. Rayon did not want to leave Greg after what happened but he trusted Grissom to look after him. Greg was grateful for the time free of his doctor.

Nick went back to the lab and had been slightly irritated that he was not trusted with the information about the photos but then he remembered how hard it was for him to even take the photos of Greg. So after thinking about that he was okay with Grissom being the only one to be with Greg to show him.

Greg really had not wanted to make an appearance at the lab so soon. He regretted it the minute he walked in with Grissom. Judy, the receptionist said an awkward hello to him, while others just sort of looked at him, make a polite smile and then seemed to whisper to their co-workers.

Grissom saw Wendy pop her head out and before Greg could spot her, he shook his head to motion for her to leave them alone. She could see Greg walking by with his head down, avoiding all the pitying eyes.

Grissom took him into his office. "I'll get them. You just wait in here and I will be right back."

Greg simply nodded. In the last thirty minutes he had time to let everything she said sink in. He was feeling sick to his stomach again. Just seeing her brought all his memories front and center again. Was he going to end up crazy like her? If he had the chance he knew he would attack her again because of his hatred for her.

He remembered her telling him that she was having mercy upon them by killing them instead of making them suffer like she had told him when she wished someone had helped her end her life for her. Now more than ever he understood why she said that.

Grissom's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I have the file here. All the photos are in it." He handed the file to him. "I'll leave you alone if you want."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said as he took the folder from Grissom. He stared at it a moment while Grissom sat down at his desk. He slowly opened it up and recognized the first victim in the photo. He felt a chill run down his back as he recognized the location and the all too familiar circumstance that the man was placed in.

After the next few photos he knew what to expect when he saw his, but it was still shocking and humiliating.

Grissom, who had been watching him carefully over the top of his glasses, could tell the exact moment when he had reached his own photos. His face turned ashen and his mouth had parted slightly. He noticed his hands shake, something he had seen him do years ago after the explosion.

Upon seeing the photos of himself, he wished he had not asked to see them. It made every single horrid memory he had of his time there flood his brain. He started feeling very sick but he was able to hold it back. He slowly flipped through the other shots. He really had not realized how horrible he had looked until he got to the close-up shots. He understood why he still had so much pain in his body. He never fully saw the extent of the damage she inflicted upon him. Now he just saw the left over scars, which littered every part of him but his face. But the photos told him more than he cared to know about what abuse his body was put through at her hands.

The photos twisted his stomach so much that he quickly closed the file folder and shoved it on Grissom's desk. He got up quickly. "I got to go," he said hurriedly.

Grissom was worried about him. "Greg, wait."

But Greg was already heading out the door. He walked briskly to the restroom and into a stall, slamming the door shut behind him as he heaved into the commode. He heard someone come into the restroom as he was still vomiting.

"Henry, are you getting sick again over that crap leftover food you ate for dinner?" He heard a voice he recognized and cringed. It was someone he definitely did not want to see that day. It was already bad enough.

Then he heard knocking on his stall door. "I told you to drink some 7-up or something, you moron."

Greg had nothing left in his stomach to throw up anymore, but he stayed leaning over the commode, breathing heavily. He heard the restroom door open again.

"Hodges, what are you doing?" Greg heard Grissom's voice.

Hodges backed away from the stall door. "Oh, I think Henry is in here getting sick off his dinner I told him not to eat, but he won't talk to me because he knows I was right."

Grissom knew it was not Henry. He saw the direction Greg had gone in. He gave Hodges a serious gaze. "Can you excuse us for a minute?"

"Well, I was just going …" but he shut up when he realized Grissom meant it. "Okay, I will use the one on the other side of the building." Hodges turned and left the restroom. Grissom followed behind and locked the door briefly after he was out to give him a moment with Greg without interruption.

"Greg, are you okay in there?"  
Greg was anything but okay. He wanted to get out of that building and never have to see it or anyone in it again. He tried his hardest to fight the on-coming tears.

"Do I need to send for help?" Grissom's concerned voice echoed in the room.

"No," he croaked out, definitely not wanting anyone else to see him like this.

"I can get someone to drive you home," Grissom suggested.

"No, I'll be okay. I just need a couple more minutes, okay?" His voice was hoarse and unsteady.

"Do you want me to wait here and walk out with you so you can avoid any unnecessary contact with others?" Grissom offered having a feeling his young CSI could not handle unwanted questions at this time.

"Yeah, thanks," he said from behind the door. He took about another minute before he finally emerged from the stall. He was still very sickly looking.

Grissom watched him carefully as he went over to the sink and washed up and then splashed some water on his face. "Are you sure you don't want someone to drive you home?" He asked him again, thinking he was in no shape to be driving.

"No, I'll be fine. I live close anyway," he replied as he finished wiping off his face.

"Okay, I won't push it anymore. Are you ready to go then?"

Greg turned to him and nodded. Grissom gave him a small smile. "Okay." He unlocked the door and walked along with Greg through the hallway towards the parking garage exit. Most people were busy working and paid no attention. The few that did see Greg with Grissom quickly looked away when they got the look from him. Greg avoided all eye contact by watching the floor as he walked out.

Greg was having dark thoughts on the walk out. Once they reached the parking garage he lifted his head again when Grissom told him the coast was clear.

"Thanks Grissom. I appreciate everything you have done for me. I only wish I did not disappoint you so."

Grissom furrowed his brows. "Disappoint? I'm not disappointed in you. You have not done anything wrong considering what you have been through. I just want you to feel comfortable again in your own skin. And if you are worried about getting back to work, don't. You take all the time you need until you feel you are ready to come back."

Greg was doubtful but nodded his head anyway. "Okay. Well thanks anyway. I'll be going home now." He sounded grim and seemed withdrawn.

Grissom really did not think he should be alone but he did not want to crowd him either. "Drive safely. I'll talk to you soon." He watched as Greg simply went to his car, got in and drove off. Worry eitched Grissom's face as the car drove out of sight.

--

On the short drive home all Greg could picture was his body sprawled out like some bloody rag doll, placed perfectly as to how she wanted him for the photos. He wondered what her intention was in taking the photos. She had claimed she was an artist. He was one of her sick photography exhibits. He trembled at the thought of her posing him and the thrill she probably got out of taking the photos.

He had not realized he had been sitting in his car for a while in his parking lot until he was startled by a knock on his window. It was one of his neighbors asking if he was okay. Of course, they all knew about what happened to him, it was all over the news. That made it even worse for him, everyone knowing.

He opened his car door and said he was fine, which was far from the truth but it chased her away anyway. He slumped his way up to his apartment and once inside locked out the world to him.

He did not want to be like this the rest of his life, living with shame and humiliation and the horrible memories that virtually always made him sick. He wished for that mercy she had promised him back in that basement, wished he had not had the last second of conscience get to him to want to live.

He sat on his couch staring at his distorted reflection in the blank TV screen. He felt dead inside and his reflection showed that he looked close to it on the outside too. He wanted the whole world to just swallow him up and never look back. 'You're going to be just like me.' Her words echoed in his head as it began to ache. As the headache grew, he was reawakened to the other pain in his body again. He had not taken his pills in hours. He got up to find his Darvocet and take it. It was bad enough having the memories but at least the pain could be temporarily taken care of. They also helped him to sleep and he had not realized how tired he was until he laid down on top of his bed after taking his pills and dozed off quickly.

--

"How did it go with Greg?" Nick asked Grissom the next evening when he came on shift.

"The photos really got to him. He got sick. I found him in the restroom, throwing up. I called him earlier to make sure he was okay. He said he was but I still wonder," he told him with a distant look.

"I think I will see him after shift and see how he is doing. I knew it was a bad idea seeing her, though. She is wicked and just wanted to mess with his head more. I can't blame him for going after her. I would have too," Nick said to him.

"Violence does not solve anything," Grissom told him with a look over the top of his glasses.

"Maybe not, but sometimes it is satisfying in a case like her."

Grissom frowned at his response. "Well I do not think it helped him any."

Warrick and Catherine came in and were filled in on what happened with Greg and his visit with Robin Weaver.

"Poor Greg. He really shouldn't be alone right now," Catherine said with motherly concern.

"I'm sure he will be okay," Warrick assured her.

Grissom hoped so but in the meantime he got them down to business on the new cases they had to work on. He knew it would take their minds off of Greg temporarily.


	21. Fears

**A/N-Thanks again for the reviews. Glad you all are enjoying my story so far. This chapter takes a turn that may shock you. **

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Greg had received a call earlier from Dr. Rayon canceling their appointment for that day. He had something come up where he would not be able to see Greg. Greg was grateful because he was about to call him and say he was sick and could not make it.

He had been plagued with images of her coming at him with all her tools of torture throughout his sleep. He now stood in front of the mirror, naked after getting out of the shower. He stared at the reflection not even recognizing his own body anymore. He could not live like this, hating to see his own image in the mirror. He was unable to sleep without nightmares all the time now. He loathed them and her and what she did to him.

He was curious, though as to what other evidence they had collected from her place that he did not know about. He looked at the clock and figured their shifts had just basically begun. He might get lucky and avoid the other CSI's. He knew he might run into a lab tech but he would ignore them since he was on a mission. He had not lost any of his privileges so he would have access to the evidence room.

He pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed a t-shirt. His hair was still short enough that he did not have to do much to it but run his hands through it. He grabbed his car keys and a hoodie before heading out the door.

He parked in the parking garage at the LVPD lab and noticed the main Denali's they usually went out in gone, so he hoped that meant they were all out on scenes. He did not want any of them to know he was there at that moment. He saw a new temp receptionist and just flashed his badge at her before she could ask any questions.

He spotted Henry and Archie in their labs working diligently so they did not see him go into the evidence room. As he entered the room, he closed the door behind him and put on a pair of gloves. He did not want to contaminate the evidence they had against her.

He went down the aisle until he found the boxes he was looking for. He grabbed one and pulled it out and placed it on the table. He cut open the evidence seal and took the lid off. Seeing the contents of the box made him nauseous again. It held most of the torture devices she had used on him. Some he remembered, a few he did not. He figured they were used when he was drugged. Looking at them just made him hurt.

He could not handle looking at the items much longer so he closed that box and got the tape and resealed it, putting his initials on the tape. He was not doing anything he was not allowed to do. Technically he had been working the case prior to becoming a victim. He was still doing proper procedure; he just did not want anyone to know he wanted to see the evidence.

He opened the second box, which was full of test results and paper work. He pulled out the DNA test results and saw the blood matches to his own from several of the items he saw in the previous box. He picked out another folder that had the photos they had taken of her place. He flipped through them, not even recognizing her living space. The pictures from the cellar sent shivers down his spine, though.

He swallowed hard as he came across the next batch of photos. They were the same ones he saw the day before. He quickly passed over those and then came across the ones Nick had taken of him. Even those photos had bothered him more than he realized they could.

After going through all the photos of himself he realized that no one he worked with would ever be able to look at him the same way again especially Grissom, Nick and Catherine who had all seen the photos. They would always see poor Greg all bloody, bruised and naked. No matter what they said, he had no dignity left.

He felt bile rise in his throat. He quickly threw the files back into the box and resealed it. He shoved the box back onto the shelf and then leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He could not take this anymore. He did not want to go on with this feeling inside him and no stupid doctor or his pills could help him. If only he had some of the Devil's Breath, enough to do over again what she tried to do the first time. But he had another idea, a sure method of getting it right the first time.

He headed to the door and glanced out first to make sure the coast was clear. Then he walked out and looked into the ballistics lab. It was empty; he remembered Bobby Dawson was off that day of the week. He walked up to the gun cabinet. He looked around again to make sure no one saw him and then he pulled out his key to it. He opened it up and took a couple seconds to make his choice. After making his choice he locked the cabinet back up. He made another look to make sure no one was looking and then opened the drawer that they had the bullets in. He grabbed a couple of the right type and closed it back up.

He put the gun and bullets in his hoodie pocket and started heading out of the lab with his head down.

"What are you doing here?"  
The voice surprised him and he froze in place and looked up at the lab tech.

"What are you doing coming out of ballistics?"

Greg tried to hide the sudden fear he felt by making a quick excuse. "I wanted to thank Bobby in person for sending me a gift basket while I was in the hospital, something you would never have dreamed of doing, Hodges. I'm sure you were much too busy celebrating my absence."

Hodges did not want to get into it with Greg, knowing he was probably not himself but he was still curious. "Bobby is off on Wednesdays, remember? But maybe you forgot that or maybe you are just making an excuse."

"You know what, I don't have to explain myself to you. I'll just see him another time. Why don't you go back to whatever it is you were doing? I am out of here," Greg pushed past him rapidly. He was scared of being busted.

Hodges stared at him as he walked rapidly away. "Lay off the drugs a bit, sheesh," he mumbled to himself, but he still wondered about Greg coming out of the lab. He looked like he was guilty of something but he did not know what it could be.

Once Greg was out of the building and to his car safely with the item he borrowed from the lab, he breathed a sigh of relief. Running into Hodges freaked him out. If Hodges had seen him with the gun, things would have gone crazy. He was just relieved things would be over as soon as he was home. That is where he would finally finish the job Robin Weaver had started.

--

Grissom was sitting in his office going over a new case file with Nick when David Hodges came into his office. "Hey boss, I got your results from the paint chip. It is Satin Silver Metallic mostly used on BMW's."

"Thanks David. Let me know when you get the results on the fiber," Grissom told him.

"Sure thing, Boss." He started walking out the door but then remembered something. "Hey, uh, did you know Greg was here earlier?"

Nick turned around in his chair. "Greg was here? Did you talk to him?"

"Very briefly. He was coming out of the ballistics lab. He said he was here to tell Bobby thank you in person for giving him some gift basket? I told him Bobby was off and he said he forgot. I don't know but he looked like he was hiding something from me. He was acting very suspicious, but then again I have not seen him in a month."

"When was this?" Grissom asked him, getting a bad feeling in his gut.

"About two hours ago. He ran out in a hurry."

"Thanks for letting us know," Grissom smiled at him, letting him know he could leave now.

"No problem. Always keeping an eye on things when you are away," Hodges grinned and then left the office.

"What the hell was Greg doing here?" Nick exclaimed.

"My question is why was he in ballistics alone? Let's make a trip over to the video surveillance room and see if we can figure out what he was doing in there, if it is on the video."

They headed over to the surveillance room and pulled the footage from the entrance to the lab 3 hours prior. After the Natalie Davis thing with her having worked as a janitor there, the sheriff had security cameras installed in the whole lab.

They saw Greg come in at about 12:55 am. They saw him head towards the evidence room.

"What was he doing in there?" Nick wondered.

"Maybe he wanted to see what else we had not told him about what we found at her place. Maybe he did not want any more surprises," Grissom guessed.

They could see him on camera in the evidence room. They saw him use gloves and pulling items out of the boxes and putting them back.

"He was looking at all the photos again," Nick mused with a frown.

"So it seems." Grissom was wary of him looking at them again. After Greg resealed the last box they could see that he just leaned against the wall for a while, looking very upset.

"Why the hell did he do that to himself? He should have known it would of upset him," Nick remarked.

Grissom shook his head, wishing he knew the answer.

They then watched the video from the ballistics lab. They saw that he was very careful and making sure no one saw him.

"He's going into the gun cabinet." Nick warned.

They both could see him take some sort of gun out and then relock the cabinet and then go for bullets.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Nick grabbed his cell phone and immediately tried to call Greg. "He's not answering, Grissom. Damn it, he's not answering!" Nick jumped up from his chair and started heading out the door.

Grissom stopped Nick a moment by grabbing his arm. Nick spun around with fear in his eyes. "I'm going to his place. He could be dead already, Grissom."

"Maybe he got the gun for protection," Grissom said to him knowing it was not true but hoping to calm Nick down.

"Grissom, he would not steal a gun from the lab just for protection. He knew we would see these videos eventually and it would be too late to do anything for him. If Hodges had not told us…"

"I know, Nick. I'm going with you now."

Grissom drove because Nick was too jittery to be driving. Nick kept calling Greg's home phone and cell phone, leaving messages to no avail.

"Damn it, Grissom. What were we thinking letting him see her? Why did we leave him alone in the state of mind he has been in lately? This can't be happening." Nick's eyes were nearing tears. He could not believe Greg would try to kill himself.

Grissom stayed quiet. He had seen the despair and agony in Greg's eyes before he left him yesterday and still he let him go home alone. He had failed his young CSI in the worst way.

They pulled up and saw his car in his spot at his complex. Nick ran out of the SUV ahead of Grissom. Nick got to his door and did not even bother knocking. He got out his key to the door and unlocked it. Grissom came up right behind him.

Nick opened the door and Grissom followed. His music was loud enough that Nick had to yell out his name. "Greg?" He headed for his bedroom after not seeing him in his living room.

Grissom found his stereo and turned it off. Then as he walked towards the bedroom a piece of paper with Greg's handwriting on the counter top caught Grissom's eye. He was about to pick it up when he heard Nick.

Nick had come into his bedroom doorway and gasped at the sight. "Oh God! Greg! No!"


	22. Life or Death

**A/N-I appreciate all of your reviews. This chapter steps back a little and takes it from Greg's POV.**

* * *

When Greg had got home from the lab, he sat down a moment and stared at the gun in his hands. He never enjoyed handling a gun before and that was why he did not carry one, so holding one now felt foreign even though he had shot them for lab work before.

He knew it was his quickest way to end his life but could he do it? He was so sure when he was back at the lab but now he was having doubts. Then her words echoed back in his head. 'It's a sick cycle we are on together now, My Pet, unless you have the guts I never had and you know what I mean.' He did not want to be like her and with the anger and hatred he felt towards her he wondered if those feelings would get worse overtime. So far everything seemed to get worse. The looks people he gave him he could not take anymore. He would always be known as the one that survived the crazy woman who tortured her male prisoners and then mercy killed them with the Devil's Breath. But Greg's mercy had not come to him and he knew it was his own fault. He had not realized at the time how bad living with all that happened to him would be. He could not even think of being with a woman again with how he looked. They would see his scar-ridden body and shriek away in terror. Hell, he could not even stand looking at himself anymore.

No, he could not go on like this. It was not worth it, but he had to let them know why. He put the gun down for now and got up and grabbed a piece of stationary and a pen off his desk and sat down to start writing his letter.

It took longer than he thought it would to manage to get down on paper his thoughts. He wanted to make it clear as to why he was doing what he was about to do. As he wrote the words it was a way of confirming to himself why he had to do it.

He put the letter on his counter to be clearly seen. He went over and picked up the gun and went into his bedroom with it. He sat down at the foot of his bed. Again he stared at the gun in his hands, wondering if this was the right answer, but he really could not see any other way to go on.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the two bullets he had taken. He opened the carriage and put each bullet in slowly and then closed it. He held the cold metal in his quivering hands. He sat there in silence again just staring at it. The silence was not right for the moment plus once the gun went off the noise would carry.

He put the gun down on his bed and walked out into his living room to where his stereo was. He went through his CD's until he found the right one. He put on the Marilyn Manson CD and set it to repeat mode and then hit play. He turned up the volume but not too loud to attract his neighbors' attention, but loud enough to hide the gun shot when it would go off.

As he walked back towards his bedroom, he stopped to re-read his suicide letter to reconfirm to himself the reasons he had listed for doing this. He took a deep breath and went back into his bedroom. He looked at the silver .357 lying on the bed. He sat down again and picked it up with his right hand. He had shot one of these guns a few times only about a month ago for a case. He was familiar with how it worked and knew it was reliable.

His heartbeat was getting faster as the dull throb in his head started getting worse. The headaches had become regular since he was tortured, just another effect he could end soon. He took the gun and warily brought it to his temple. His hand was shaking so badly he was not sure he would be able to hold it steady enough but he had two chances.

The music droned along with the throbbing in his head. He took a couple of deep breaths before trying to pull the trigger. He felt hot tears start streaming down his face. He sat there for the longest time with the gun to his head, his finger ready to pull, but something was keeping him from completing the job.

Even as thoughts of her whipping him and electrocuting him went through his mind, he still could not pull the trigger. He was so confused why he could not do it now, when he seemed so sure he wanted to do it. He was so consumed with his thoughts that he had not realized how much time he had been sitting there.

"Oh God! Greg! No!" He turned his head to see Nick standing in his bedroom doorway, terror on his face. He still was holding the gun to his head.

Nick was scared out of his mind but glad that Greg was still alive. "Greg, man, you don't want to do this. If you do this she wins. She gets her final victim. Put down the gun, just put it down." He walked in closer to him, but Greg was not putting down the gun.

"I can't go on feeling this way. I don't want to be like her," Greg said as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"You just need time, things will get better. I promise you. We love you, Greg. Just put down the gun."

Greg then saw Grissom walk in his room. He turned his gaze downward in shame, feeling more courage suddenly to pull the trigger.

Nick saw the change in Greg's expression and did not trust it. He lunged forward, going for his armed right hand. Greg did not see him coming.

Grissom had been watching Greg so carefully he was even shocked when he saw Nick run at him. The next thing he knew was he heard the gun go off. He flinched hearing it fire. He was afraid the worst had happened. He looked and saw Greg lying on his back as Nick took the gun out of his hand.

Nick had managed to hit Greg's arm back far enough before the gun went off that the bullet went into his bedroom wall instead of his head.

Grissom watched as Greg turned on his side and curled up, with heaving sobs now. It tore him apart to see the younger man in such despair. Nick looked up at him, helpless as to what to do next.

"I'm going to call Dr. Rayon and let him know where we are," Grissom told Nick. Grissom walked out of the room for a moment to make the call.

"Dr. Rayon, I'm sorry to bother you at such a hour but Greg just tried to kill himself."

"What? Where is he?" Dr. Rayon's voice immediately sounded wide-awake.

"We are here at his apartment. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes, I do. Stay there. I can be there in 20 minutes," the doctor told him in a rushed voice.

"We'll be here. We are not going anywhere," Grissom told him.

Nick had been sitting on the bed next to a weeping Greg. He was still in shock, knowing he was just barely on time to stop the bullet from going into Greg's head. "We are going to get you help. Dr. Rayon will figure out what to do."

Greg's mind was a jumbled mess. Along with his severe headache, he did not know what he wanted anymore. Somewhere inside him he still had a will to live but seeing Grissom had triggered an overwhelming self-hatred for himself that made him pull the trigger. Now those feelings were still there along with a multitude of others along the same lines. He wanted nothing but to disappear into oblivion.

Grissom came back into the room. The scene was no different from how he left it. His youngest CSI was still curled up on his side and Nick was sitting by him, taking the extra round out of the carriage of the gun. He looked at Grissom with sad disbelief.

"Greg, I want you to know we are going to keep this between us just for now. I don't want you to have to worry about word on this getting out to everyone already on top of everything else." Grissom said to him. He knew it was against policy to not report a suicide attempt but right now he cared more about Greg's well being. He knew that it would only make things worse for him to report it. He would discuss it with Dr. Rayon when he arrived.

Greg hated that they were watching him, thinking about what a poor pathetic man he was now. He squeezed his palms to his head, willing his headache and all his suffering to go away.

Nick got up and came over to Grissom. "I don't know what to say to him. I can deal with a stranger but when it is someone I know so well I'm at a loss for words," he whispered to Grissom.

"Yeah, it's always harder when it is someone you know, especially when it is someone you would never expect to do something like this." Grissom shook his head as he stared at Greg.

He was quiet now but still curled up and holding his head in his hands, partially shielding his face. He knew they were watching him and he hated that. He wanted them to just stop staring at him.

There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it. It is probably Dr. Rayon. Stay here with him," Grissom said to Nick. Nick nodded and sat on the side of the bed after Grissom walked out.

"You know, Greg, I was about to kill myself before you all came to my rescue when I was buried alive. I could not take it anymore, the ants eating me alive and running out of air. I just about pulled that trigger and then I heard Warrick's voice. I had lost hope but then it came back just hearing his voice, the hope that I was going to get out of there. You didn't want to pull that trigger, Greg. You still have hope in you somewhere; I saw it in your eyes. You have to hold onto that. I could have shot myself much sooner in that hole, but I held out as long as I could."

Greg knew Nick was trying to make him feel better, but he was not the same. "I'm not you, Nick. Our situations are different," he mumbled to him.

Nick was glad Greg at least responded to him. "I know our situations are different but Greg, you are only 32 years old. Why throw away all the years you have ahead of you? You can't let her destroy you like this. You won the first round, don't let her win the final round."

Greg thought about what Nick said to him. He knew he was right. He just stayed silent.

"Dr. Rayon, glad you could get here so fast," Grissom greeted him somberly.

The doctor's eyes searched the living room. He wore sweatpants, a t-shirt and a jacket, obviously throwing on the closest thing he could grab in such short notice. He had a small medical bag with him. He placed it on the ground. "How is he? What exactly happened?" The concerned doctor asked him.

"Nick is with him now. He's been curled up on his bed ever since Nick got the gun away from him." Grissom continued to explain to him how they saw the video of Greg at the lab going through the evidence and then getting a gun from the ballistics lab.

"We got here and we thought for sure we would be too late, but we were not. Nick saw him first holding the gun to his head. I did not think he would go through with it but when he saw me he changed suddenly and it looked like he was about to pull the trigger when Nick basically tackled the gun away from him. He was going to do it. The gun went off. There is a bullet in his wall now," Grissom finished telling him.

Dr. Rayon could see Greg's supervisor was more affected by his suicide attempt then he was letting on. "He looks up to you a great deal more than you probably realize. You seeing him at his weakest point might have been the reason he pulled that trigger when he did. He did not want to see you feeling ashamed of him. It would have been easier for him to end his life."

Grissom gazed admiringly at the doctor. "You are very good at what you do, Dr. Rayon. I appreciate your astuteness. I am sure Greg will be in good hands with you. However, I do have a major favor to ask of you first."

"What is that?"

"I have told Greg that we would not report his suicide attempt. If this goes on his record I know any chances he has of going back to his CSI duties are pretty much over with. Our lab director would no longer see him fit to do his job. I wanted to leave that decision up to you, the expert."

Dr. Rayon frowned. "I have only once not reported a suicide attempt." He saw the determination in Grissom's eyes. "But I can see how this might harm his recovery if he thought his career's future was ruined, so I will keep this between just us, for now. But if he makes another attempt on his life, I cannot."

"I understand completely. Thank you, Dr. Rayon. Let me take you to Greg now."

They came into Greg's bedroom. Dr. Rayon saw his huddled up form and motioned for Nick to come over by them.

He got up and came over. "I just got him to talk a little, but it was not anything productive. Hopefully you will have better luck," he whispered to them.

"Okay, well leave me alone with him for awhile. I'll let you know how things go."

"Sure, we will stick around until then in the living room," Grissom told him.

Dr. Rayon closed the door to Greg's room. He saw the hole in the wall that Grissom had mentioned. He looked at Greg who was still hiding his face. He sighed. He did not think Greg would go that far, not so soon anyway. If he had not cancelled his session that day he would have been able to see how distraught and hopeless his patient was.

"Greg, it is Dr. Rayon. We are alone for now. I want you to talk to me. I want to know where your head is at right now. You have two colleagues very worried about you right now. You even have me worried. What happened? What exactly did she say to you yesterday that made you decide it was time to end your life?"

Greg shook his head and whispered. "I don't want to turn out like her. They are all better off without me."

"You don't honestly think you could turn into a brutal killer like her. Just because you went after her does not make you like her. You are not a murderer. You help catch them for a living. A person does not change that drastically. You have morals, Greg. She does not. She was brought up completely different than you were. You seem to come from a loving family and have a top-notch education. She came from an abusive family and has little education. There is no comparison between you two. She was saying those things to get to you, to rattle you and you took the bait. She knew you were vulnerable. She took advantage of you again. Don't let her completely destroy you now after you spent almost a month to get back on your feet again, to be free."

Greg shook his head as the tears came back to his eyes. "I'm so confused and tired right now. I just wish I had no memories of those 4 days but I do and then she told me things I did not remember but now I can picture. She took photos…" He swallowed back the bitterness in his mouth. Seeing himself in those photos again made it all so real.

"Why did you go back to look at the evidence? What were you hoping to prove to yourself?"

"I don't know. I just was wondering what had been found that I did not know about. What other things she might suddenly have surprised me with or just might have come out at a later time? I did not want any more surprises."

"She can't hurt you anymore unless you let her. You are giving her more power than she deserves."

Greg was quiet. He knew he was right but he could not convince himself of it fully. He squeezed his hands to his head tighter as his head pounded more.

Dr. Rayon noticed the action. "Do you have another one of your headaches?" Greg just nodded.

"When did you last take your medication?"  
"I don't recall," he mumbled.

"Let me get you some of your pills then. Where you do keep them?"

"In the kitchen, next to the sink."

"Okay, I will be right back." He went into the kitchen. When Nick and Grissom looked at him he told them he was getting Greg his medication.

He went back into Greg's room when he had the pills. Greg was sitting up on the side of the bed when he came back in. The doctor handed him his pills and a bottle of water.

He looked down at his palm holding more pills than he normally took. "What are these other pills?"

"They are tranquillizers. I think it would be best if you got some good sleep and then we could talk when your head is clearer."

Greg looked down at the pills, a slight fear creeping inside him. "These aren't going to like knock me out to the point of not knowing what I am doing?"

Dr. Rayon could hear the concern in his voice. "No, they are not that strong. They are not like the scopolamine. You will wake up if anyone tried to do anything to you, you would know."

Greg nodded sheepishly. "Okay." He took the pills down with the water.

"I'll stay here with one of your co-workers while you sleep. We won't leave you alone."

"Then I suppose you will grill me when I wake up," Greg sighed.

"I'm not going to grill you but I really think you need to open up and discuss your feelings. I don't want to have to commit you."

Greg's eyes opened wide in shock. "Commit me? You mean lock me in a mental hospital? I'm not crazy!"

Dr. Rayon smiled. He got the response he was hoping for. "See you just said yourself, you are not crazy. You are not like her. No, I won't do that to you, unless you make another attempt to kill yourself."

Greg lowered his head, seeing how the good doctor knew him pretty well despite his unwillingness to talk about the events. "Fine, I get it. It's not like you all would even let me out of your sight anyway to even do anything."  
"Are you telling me even after all we have said if given the chance you would still attempt it?" The doctor looked worried.

Greg shook his head slightly. "No, I guess not. It's just I feel so confused and depressed, it seemed the easiest way out, to finish what she should have."

Greg sighed. He felt the pills beginning to take effect. "I don't know. I just can't stand even looking at myself anymore. My own body disgusts me. And then just the memories, they can be overbearing at times."

"You know you could always try plastic surgery to clean up the scarring some. And as for your memories, I've already said talking about them can make you deal with them better but you refuse to talk about it."

"I had not thought about plastic surgery. I suppose I could look into it." He looked to at the doctor, his eyes half-mast. "I'll try opening up more but not making promises."

Dr. Rayon grinned at him. "As long as you are willing to try. I'm going to let you get some sleep now but first is there anything in this room in which you can harm yourself with?"

Greg frowned and then looked around. "No, but how do you know I'm telling you the truth?"

"I trust you. I think you just were having a moment of weakness and loss of hope but I think deep down you really want to live, that is why it was so hard for you to pull the trigger."

He bit his lip. "Perhaps you are right." He yawned suddenly.

"Okay that is my sign to let you get some sleep. I'll be checking up on you periodically."  
After Dr. Rayon left Greg alone in his room, he walked over to use the bathroom. As he was washing his hands he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like total crap. Maybe Dr. Rayon was right he would be better off after getting some decent sleep. He walked back into his bedroom and changed into fresh clothes before lying down in his bed.

When he laid down his eyes caught the bullet hole in his wall. He shivered a moment at the thought that that was almost in his head. At this point now he could not believe he actually tried it.

As he closed his eyes he wondered how he could have felt so low to pull that trigger. Deep down back when he was holding that gun, he had been hoping someone would come by and stop him. That was why he sat there for nearly 30 minutes just holding that gun to his head. Nick came just in time. He finally dozed off into a deep sleep.

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**A/N- When I was originally writing this story I actually had planned on having Greg commit suicide but I backed off on it and decided to take this route that I have taken. What's done is done. :) Please review...TBC  
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	23. Opening Up

**A/N-I really do appreciate all your reviews. I'm glad everyone is really enjoying it so far. HappyHarper13, in regards to your review, I had planned on Greg actually going through with killing himself and then it was just going to be everyone's reactions to it, but then I thought about it and came up with this alternate direction which I am glad I went with now. You will see. Plus it is hard for me to do a depressing ending. LOL**

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Greg woke up from a weird dream. He was lying in a casket, naked with Nick and Grissom looking over him. "Such a shame he took his life. I was about to finally promote him to a Level II CSI," Grissom said with a weird smirk on his face.

"Yeah, he's been waiting forever for that. He had so much to live for and he just blew it away. Get it 'blew it away!" Nick laughed.

"Yeah and now his hair is really messed up, all mixed with brain matter." The voice belonged to Doc Robbins who walked over to stare down at him too.

"Yep and he was so worried about how his body was scarred but it looks fine to me," Nick said.

Greg lifted his head and saw no scars on his body. "Where are the scars?" He asked them all.

"They faded but that hole in your head won't," Grissom pointed out. He produced a mirror out of the blue and let Greg see his reflection. To the side of where his head laid were his brains scattered all over the white pillow. He could see the bloody hole in the side of his head.

"How can I see this if I am dead?" He asked them.

"Because you are brain damaged. Your shot was off, but you might as well be dead so that is why we are having your funeral," Doc Robbins told him.

"I don't want to be dead. I want to live," he told them.

"Too bad, Greggo. You took the gun and did the deed. Suffer now," Nick smirked at him.

"NO, I don't want to," he yelled at them and that was when he had woke up.

At least she was not in his dream this time, he thought. He looked around his room and saw the bullet in his wall again. How was he going to explain that to his landlord? He guessed he could remove it and patch it up before he ever noticed. He had removed bullets from more difficult places before. He frowned as he thought about his job. He had seen some pretty ugly crimes, many of which got to him a bit. Even the other victims of Robin Weaver's had bothered him somewhat but he never in a million years thought he would be one of them. He was a victim and yet he was a survivor. He was still unsure if one was better than the other.

Dr. Rayon peeked his head in and saw that Greg was awake. "How long have you been awake?" He asked him as he came in.

Greg sat up and shrugged. "Not long."

"Well you slept a good nine hours about. How does your head feel?"

"Okay now," he said briefly. "Have you been here all along?"

"No, we've been taking turns. No one else is here now."

"Oh," Greg responded solemnly, knowing Dr. Rayon would want to talk seriously now.

He came over and looked down at him. "We can talk here or in your living room."

Greg wanted out of his bedroom. "Living room, then."

Dr. Rayon smiled. "Okay, I'll see you in there." He left him alone because he figured he might want to refresh himself.

Greg came out a few minutes later looking extremely guilty. He felt bad now about the actions he had taken earlier and he knew the Doctor was being overly kind to him considering what he had done. He had told Greg he had trusted him but he knew better. He would not trust himself.

"If you want to grab something to eat before we start talking, go ahead," the doctor told him.

Greg sat down in his lounge chair. "I'm not hungry," he said quietly. He just wanted to get this over with.

"You should eat something. When was the last time you ate?"

He sighed. "I don't know but I do not want to eat now. I just want to get this over with," he moaned.

Dr. Rayon frowned a moment but then decided not to agitate him more. "Okay fine. So where do you want to start? Are you going to tell me what triggered your sudden urge to try to kill yourself?"

"I thought we already covered that ground pretty much earlier," he replied grumpily.

"We did a little but perhaps you can elaborate on what she told you in interrogation that really set you off."

Greg gazed down at a dirt stain in his carpeting. "She is vile. She taunted me about the photos she took. She taunted me, telling me things she did to me that I did not remember. She reminded me that…" He closed his eyes as tears crept into them. "That she was the last woman I would ever be with, that no others would want me now."

Dr. Rayon could hear the pain in his voice. "That's not true, Greg. Not everyone is superficial. I am sure you will be able to find someone who will look past your issues and scars. She said all the right things to get to you. She knew exactly what buttons to push. I made the mistake of letting you see her too soon. Perhaps given more time you would not have let what she said to you get to you like it did. I take the blame for that. I'm sorry."

Greg shook his head and lifted his head to look at the doctor, his eyes wet. "No, don't apologize. I took the bait when I knew better. I was an idiot for letting her get me in the first place."

"From what I could see she is a beautiful woman. Any guy would have fallen for her. The other victims did too. You were not the only one. You were the only one to survive and that means she failed and it probably pisses her off. That is why she taunts you and encourages you to end your life, so she can feel she still wins in the end," Dr. Rayon explained to him.

Greg looked thoughtfully for a moment, pondering what the doctor said. "That sounds right if I put my brain into it. I just hate her I mean really hate. I've never felt such an intense feeling before about someone."

"That's not unexpected. She did a number on you."

"You have no idea," Greg replied.

Dr. Rayon took that comment and ran with it. "Why don't you tell me so I do have a better idea?"

Greg glowered and lowered his head again. He began slowly. "I remember the first time I woke up in that…place. My body screamed from pain. I was afraid to open my eyes. I knew the situation I was in due to working the cases. I knew it when I first started feeling the drugs effects outside the club. I knew what was going to happen but by that time I had lost control over my ability to defend myself or run away. So when I woke up I was afraid of seeing the reality of my situation, of knowing that those things that she did to the others, she did to me."

"I remember hearing footsteps, her coming towards me. I tried acting like I was still unconscious but she knew and to prove it she poured rubbing alcohol all over my chest. The open wounds burned and I screamed in pain. She laughed at me and then petted me like I was her dog. She called all of us her pets she told me. She was always touching me. She said I talked too much. I asked questions, it's what I do, you know?"

Dr. Rayon nodded. "I understand. She was referring to you as a _pet_ to make you feel like she did have the full control over you. She had you on her leash." He was glad Greg was finally opening up to him. He could see it was hard for him though. He still held his head low.

"She twisted me up inside and out. Anytime she thought I could not take the pain anymore she would give me water with the drug in it. Then I would wake up hours or days later, I don't know, in more pain than I remembered, new areas of pain. She would tease me with a gentle touch and then she would use those hands to hurt me. I was fully aware when she dug her nails into me, when she took another thrill in whipping my back or when she burned and sent electricity through …through my body." His body shook now as the memories washed over him. He had to pause to collect himself some.

"I was waiting for the time when I would wake up and she would have the powder ready for me to inhale. And when it finally came, when the moment came for the Devil's Breath to set me free I suddenly held my breath because I did not want to die. I wanted to live but now I do not know what I want." His voice was thick with anguish.

This was a hard moment for Dr. Rayon. He figured Greg had some memories but he did not realize to the extent that he now knew. He had to tread carefully with what he said to him. "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you forget all of that but it's not going to happen. Killing yourself is not the decision either and you knew that back when you decided not to inhale that powder. You fought and you lived. Why throw away all that effort now?"  
Greg stood up and walked to stand in front of his patio door. He looked out at the sun lowering over the Vegas strip skyline, squinting his eyes at the brightness. "Will I ever feel normal again?"

"I can't make any promises, Greg. That is up to you. This will always be with you but you do have choices. You have the choice to move on with your life, to move past this and not keep dwelling on it. Therapy will help you, talking about it. Also I can also help by trying to give you a different anti-depressant. We'll find one that works for you. I do not think this one helped you at all, if anything it made it worse for you. Sometimes that does happen. Plus whenever you need to talk about anything I will be available to you." He saw Greg nod his head slowly.

"I'll try. I just don't want to feel like this anymore."

"I can help you and I am sure your friends and family will be there for you too. Your parents are on their way here. I informed them. You may not want them to know but you need them. They can help you too." He heard Greg sigh and rub his temples.

He knew his parents would be a mess but he actually did want them around. He needed his overly protective mother at that moment.

As he stood staring out the window his head started to spin suddenly. He started feeling faint. "Doc, I…" he said quickly before suddenly collapsing onto the ground.

"Greg?!" Dr. Rayon rushed over to him. He turned him over and checked his pulse. His pulse was slow. "Greg, can you hear me?" When he did not respond he got his cell phone and called 911.

After he called for an ambulance he sat by Greg, looking over his pale appearance. He noticed he moved a little. "Greg, can you hear me?"

His eyes fluttered open. He saw the doctor looking down at him. "What happened?" He asked groggily. He tried to sit up.

"No, stay put. An ambulance is on the way," Dr. Rayon told him.

"An ambulance? I passed out?" He thought for a moment.

"Yes, you did. You were saying my name and just passed out."

"I vaguely remember feeling lightheaded and dizzy. I'm okay, though. I do not need an ambulance."

"You need to get checked out. You've been having too many headaches and now this. Dr. Ford has been thinking about doing an MRI on you again. I think it is time."

Greg looked at the doctor some fear in his eyes. "You think there is something else wrong with me? Like I don't have enough problems already?" He rubbed his hands over his face as tears started welling up in his brown eyes.

Dr. Rayon truly felt bad for him. He did not want to bring him down any further than he already was. "It's probably just because you have not eaten but let's just be sure."

He closed his eyes as he wiped the tears away. "Okay."

Dr. Rayon heard someone at the door. It opened up and Nick came in. "Hey an ambulance just pulled up to the building as I was coming up the stairs." Then Nick saw Greg on the ground. "What happened? He didn't try to…"

"I'm here Nick. I can hear you. No I did not try to kill myself again. I passed out." Greg told him strongly.

Nick looked guilty and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, G, but you can't blame me." Greg looked away from him, trying to avoid the awkwardness he felt between him and Nick.

The paramedics came to the door. Dr. Rayon came up to them.

"He's over here. He passed out but he came to since but I still want to take him to the hospital. His pulse is still weak and his eyes are dilated."

Greg did not even argue with him. He still felt light-headed so he let them take him to the hospital.

"We'll drive over there and meet you in the ER," Dr. Rayon told the paramedics who helped Greg up. He was wobbly when he stood so they put him on a stretcher and took him down to the ambulance.

"I'll fill in Grissom," Nick told Greg. He just nodded solemnly. This was turning into a very long day for him with too much emotional stress.


	24. Consequences

_A/N-Thanks again for the reviews. I really am glad you are enjoying this story. It is my favorite one I have written by far._

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Once at the hospital, they admitted Greg to a room. They scheduled the MRI for him the next day. They ran other tests that came to the conclusion that he passed out due to low blood sugar and dehydration. Dr. Rayon told him he needed to eat and this was a reason why.

Nick had stayed with him for a little bit of time but left when it was time for work. He was finding it hard to still be around Greg after seeing him almost blow his head off. Luckily Greg had been sleeping most of the time he stayed with him, so he did not have to confront the slight anger and fear he had about Greg having tried committing suicide.

Greg had been awake for a little while when his parents walked in. He could barely look at them, feeling so ashamed of himself for the reason they had to come to see him this time. The distress in their faces over their only son who tried to take his own life broke him down again. Tears filled his eyes as he watched their worried faces.

"Mom. Dad, I am sorry. I am so sorry." He started sobbing. His mother came up to him and hugged him, while his father laid his hand on his son's leg to let him know he was there too. "Shh, don't cry, my baby. You've been through so much. It doesn't change how we feel about you. We still love you. We are just glad you are still here with us."

He cried on his mom's shoulder for a couple more minutes before his sobs subsided. He leaned back into his bed, his eyes all red, puffy and looking tired.

"We heard you passed out and they brought you here," his father said to him as he ran a nervous hand through his wavy, grey-speckled brown hair.

His son nodded his head. "Yes, they think it is most likely due to low blood sugar and dehydration because I have not eaten anything in a day or two."

"Your boss, Mr. Grissom, filled us in on what's happened in the last few days that probably drove you to…" his father could not even say the words. It was still too hard to believe his once happy, hyper child had tried to take his life.

Greg had to turn away, feeling the shame of what he did. He tried to hold back more tears. He closed his eyes. He did not know what to say anymore. Sorry seemed useless.

His father could not stand to see his son in so much turmoil. "It's okay, Son. We are going to stick with you through this, no matter what. Dr. Rayon thinks he made a breakthrough with you before you fainted. He told us that with time, you would be able to get past all that has happened. We believe that too."

Greg opened his eyes and looked sincerely at his parents. "I'm glad you are here."

That brought a smile to both of their faces. "We would not have it any other way, but for now we'll let you get some rest. The doctor said you need it and you do look tired," his mother told him.

He nodded and then added, "You'll be around?"

"Yes, we both cleared a week off with our jobs for now," his mother told him.

He gave a faint smile. "Good." He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now. "I think I'll sleep now."

His mother kissed his forehead. "You do that. We'll be here when you wake."

He nodded and closed his eyes and was fast asleep.

The next morning Greg woke up after a restful sleep to find a nurse in his room, checking on his vitals. She noticed him wake up.

"Oh hello Mr. Sanders. Dr. Ford has been waiting for you to wake up. He did not want to wake you because he said you needed your rest. I'll go tell him you are awake now." He watched the rather pretty brunette leave, wondering if he would ever be able to trust a woman again. He frowned, there were so many things now that would be different for him. He did not think he would ever be use to it.

Dr. Ford came in with the nurse. "Hello Greg. How are you feeling today?"

Greg shrugged. "Okay, no headaches or dizziness. I am a bit hungry too," he admitted.

"Well that is good to hear. We have you scheduled for an MRI at 11:30 am; so we'll serve you breakfast. Pending the results of the MRI being positive you will be able to go back home today."

"Well let's hope for that then. I do not think I can handle any bad news," he said truthfully.

Dr. Rayon came in just as Dr. Ford was exiting. He said hello to him and then came into see Greg. "Hello Greg and hello Marie, nice to see you again. Did you change shifts?" He was talking to the brunette nurse.

"Uh yeah. I get off in an hour. I work the graveyard shift now," she replied, seemingly embarrassed by the doctor.

"So you will be coming back to the group session soon?" He asked her.

She blushed some more. "Uh, yeah. I was going to let you know later today."

"Well consider it known. So I will see you in two days," Dr. Rayon said to her.

She looked at Greg who had been watching her carefully. "I'll bring your breakfast," she said quickly and was gone to evade further embarrassment.

Dr. Rayon turned his attention back to Greg. "Sorry about that. She is another one of my patients. Actually that is something you might want to think about doing. It can help a lot."

Greg looked lost. "Doing what?"  
"Oh, group therapy sessions. Talking with other survivors of sexual assaults."

Every time he heard that term in reference to him, he had trouble accepting it, even though he knew it was true. "I don't think so, Doc. I mean wouldn't I be the only guy there? It would weird me out."

"You would not be the only male there, believe it or not. Granted there would not be many men but most men there are traumatized from experiences they had when they were younger. Many still suffer to this day."  
Greg looked away out the window. "I still don't know. I don't think I can talk to total strangers about it."

"Lots of people feel that way initially but once they do it and see they are not alone in their feelings of shame, low self-esteem, and fear, they feel more comfortable doing it. Just think about it."

"That Nurse, something happened to her?" Greg asked out of curiosity.

"Well, yes. Not here in Vegas. She moved here shortly after and her doctor referred her to me. She was on a flex schedule before and had trouble making sessions but it looks like she got that straightened out. She's a sweet girl, around your age I believe," he smirked at him.

Greg's facial expression showed no change. "I'll think about it. I only just told you. I'll need a little more time to tell… others."

"That's fine. I can live with that. Is there anything on your mind you care to talk about right now?"  
Greg looked down and started picking at the blanket on the bed. "I saw my parents last night. I feel like I am really burdening them. They have to keep taking time off of work for me. I've just disappointed them so much."

The doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? They told you this?"  
"Well, no," Greg pouted.

"What exactly did they say to you?"

"You know the typical 'I love you' stuff. 'We support you' but they are just saying that."

"Oh is that so? Come on, Greg. Have they ever lied to you before like that?"  
Greg bit his lip. "No, I guess not."

"Okay then why do you feel that way?"  
He sighed. "I don't know. I just feel that way."

"It's because you do not like yourself right now." Dr. Rayon looked at Greg and could see there was still a problem. "I'm going to ask you if you were given an option of dying today, would you take it?" He studied his patient's reaction.

Greg's eyes started rimming with tears and then he looked away, saying nothing.

"That's what I thought and I did not expect those feelings to disappear overnight. We have a lot of work to do yet before you lose those feelings but I am confident you will."  
He frowned, feeling more skeptical than the doctor.

The doctor's pager went off. "Okay, I have to take this. I'll see you later on for the MRI."  
Greg was glad when he left. He lay there a few minutes thinking about everything that had transpired over the last couple of days. He had been face to face again with the woman who ruined his life and then he tried to take his own life. He actually chuckled at how insane his life had become.

"You know people will think you are crazy if you keep laughing alone like that." He looked up and saw the nurse named Marie come back as promised with his breakfast. She had a grin on her face as she placed the tray down on his table.

He eyed her wearily thinking if she had been abused and sexually assaulted too, would she suddenly turn into a monster that would torture him?

"Is something wrong?" She asked him after seeing the way he was looking at her. "I was just joking before. Sorry if I offended you. I did not mean anything by it," she said apologetically.

Greg knew he had to stop acting so paranoid. He shook his head. "No sorry. I am can be a little over reactive lately. I'll try not to be. Thanks for the breakfast." He opened up the plate top and was surprised to see pancakes and bacon. "Is this for real?" he asked her, as he was used to oatmeal or something crappy like that for a hospital breakfast.

She grinned. "Yes, Dr. Ford seems to think you need a bit of fattening up."

He scowled. He knew he was skinny, he always was but he knew he was the lightest weight he had ever been. He still disliked anyone mentioning it to him, though. "I'll talk to him later on and pass on my gratitude, of course depending on the taste."

"It's still hospital food, so don't expect much. It's not real bacon."

He scrunched up his face. "Are you trying to get me not to eat it now?" asked as he looked down at the bacon that suddenly looked plastic to him.

She giggled. "No, just eat it. You will be fine. Enjoy." She smiled at him and left him with his food.

He was hungry so even though it was not the best breakfast he ever had, he ate it.

--

A few hours passed and Grissom came in to see Greg. Nick had filled him in on him passing out.

Greg was watching TV when he came in. Grissom noticed he was watching Forensics Files and could not help but smile to himself seeing his young CSI still interested in the job.

Greg saw him come in and turned off the TV.

"I guess you really like the service here at the hospital," Grissom quipped, hoping Greg was better off today. He looked better overall. He had color in his face again and his eyes were clear.

"It's better than the non-service at home but the food still sucks," he replied sheepishly. "I guess Nick told you I passed out and ended up here."

Grissom stood at the foot of his bed. "Yes, he did. I heard they are giving you a MRI?"

"Yeah actually they will probably be coming soon to take me for it," he told him.

"I see. So how are you feeling today?"

He shrugged. "Better I guess. What do the others know about me, you know, about yesterday and stuff?" He asked cautiously, not really sure Grissom had kept his promise to not tell the others.

"All they know is that you have some on-going health problems from your situation." Grissom explained to him.

"How did you know yesterday, that I might…" he could not even admit to what he tried to do now.

"Hodges told us you were there and then we looked at our surveillance footage from the lab and saw you. And to let you know, Nick returned the gun to its place. I should let you know that I also had to take your access away from those rooms for now. We had your key ring and removed them." He watched as the young CSI's face fell.

"Oh I see. I guess I should have expected that. Hodges isn't going to say anything to anyone. I mean you know how he is."

Grissom could see that he was really worried about others finding out about his suicide attempt. "He does not know about you taking the gun and I told him to not tell anyone else you were there and I made it clear to him if I heard word there would be consequences."

"Okay, if you say so," Greg replied quietly, not completely believing Hodges could keep his mouth shut, but he did not know about his suicide attempt at least in any case.

"I read your letter, Greg." Grissom sprung on him. He had taken it from the scene and put it in his pocket. He had only discovered it a few hours ago when he went to put something in his pocket. Reading Greg's immense despair and self-hatred had really rattled him but when he got to the part that he had specifically written to him, it had brought tears to his eyes. He had never realized how much the young lab rat turned CSI looked up to him and valued his opinion, how after what happened to him he felt he could only be a disappointment and failure to him. He knew after reading the letter he had to talk to Greg, but he first took the letter to his doctor. Now he was here confronting the very troubled young man.

Greg's face immediately paled hearing that he had read his letter. He lowered his eyes to avoid Grissom's gaze and hide his watery eyes. He could not bring himself to respond.

Grissom saw the anguish that entered Greg's expression before he looked away. He bit his lower lip before speaking. "I'm truly honored that you think so highly of me but I do not think I deserve it. I am not perfect by any means. I could not even foresee that you would ever try to take your life. I should have known better than to show you those photos. Nothing that happened is your fault. If anyone is to blame it is I for not listening to my gut feelings that you were in a bad state. If anyone failed anyone, Greg, it is I who failed you."

Greg raised his sorrowful brown eyes to look at Grissom. "No, you are wrong. You have not failed me. I did this to myself."

But his supervisor shook his head. "No, she did this. She is responsible for all of it. Put the blame where it is deserved. She caused all of this. If you would have never been taken by her you would not be doing any of this."

"But she chose me. She saw I was weak." His expression was devastating as his voice trembled.

Grissom felt his heart being torn again by the young man's sorrow. "No, I don't believe that. Did she tell you that?"

"Not really but why else did she pick me?" He sighed out.

"I'm not sure. She has never told us why she picked out the men she picked out. But she definitely did not see weakness in you. I've never seen it in you." Grissom offered a small smile.

"You're just saying that," he said as he lowered his eyes again.

"I am not. I mean it." Greg just looked down, avoiding his supervisor's intense gaze. Grissom did not know what to say to him to make him feel better or convince him that was how he felt. Luckily Dr. Ford entered the room to take Greg for his MRI.

"Hello Dr. Grissom. I have to get Greg ready for his MRI now," Dr. Ford said to him. Then he noticed that Greg seemed upset again, which was becoming common.

"That's okay. I was just letting him know that we are all here for him," he said with a lasting look at Greg before he left. He sighed and left the young man with his doctor.

After he left Dr. Ford approached Greg. "Are you going to be okay to do this?"  
He nodded, wiping his eyes clear. "I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

The doctor smiled at him. "Okay." An orderly came in with a wheelchair to take Greg over for the test.


	25. Selfishness and forgiveness

A/N- I again appreciate everyone's reviews. Some talked about wanting to actually know what the letter said, well I never do really write what it says exactly. I think I covered the basics of what it said through the last couple of chapters and this one.

I only have a few more chapters left before this story is wrapped up. I am glad some of you like Marie because you will see a little bit more of her. Okay now on with this chapter.

* * *

"Hey Grissom, did you hear about Greg's MRI results?" Nick asked him as he walked into his supervisor's office.

Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose thinking about his last visit with Greg. "No, I have not heard."

"Oh? Well I just finished talking to him. He said he was about to leave the hospital. There does not seem to be any major problems with his head. Doctor says it is probably stress and some minor damage he suffered due to the numerous times he was given the high doses of the drug causing his headaches, mostly migraine level, but nothing medication can't help," Nick told him.

"How did his spirit seem?" Grissom wondered since the last time he saw him he was not in great shape.

"He sounded relieved to tell you the truth. I'm sure he would not have dealt well with another major effect of his health due to her. I still feel weird talking to him though, you know. I just keep seeing him holding that gun to his head in my mind."

"Yeah I know what you mean. It's a tough image to forget. Well at least he finally got some good news, not that having migraines is any fun, but better than whatever else could have been going on. But he still has a way to go on his overall recovery," Grissom mused.

"Yeah, I know. He did say Dr. Rayon and him were going to talk some more. I know his parents are staying with him to keep a close eye on him. I think that is the best we can all do for him right now."

"For who?" Catherine asked as he walked in on the conversation.

Grissom looked at her, surprised. "Greg. He had a MRI today to find out if it was a serious reason why he was getting headaches, but there is not. We were just saying there is not much we can do for him now but just support him."

"Yeah, I have not seen him in a few days. I should really visit him."

"Oh well his parents are back in town staying with him so you might want to call ahead of time," Nick told her.

"Oh they came back? That's nice for him," she replied.

Nick and Grissom hated keeping the others in the dark about the suicide attempt but overall they knew it was best for Greg.

"Well, I do have a case for you two to work on." Grissom gave them the details and their shift was well on its way.

--

"I'm glad you are willing to do this late session since today has been rather hectic," Dr. Rayon said to Greg as he came into his office.

"I'm just glad I do not have to spend another night in the hospital," he replied as he sat down on the couch.

"You're glad the MRI came out well too, I bet."

"Yes, that is for sure. I did not want any more bad news," Greg said. He was relieved but he felt nervous being there in the doctor's office knowing he had to discuss uncomfortable things with him.

"So Greg," Dr. Rayon pulled out a familiar piece of paper. "I got your suicide note from Grissom. I read it over. It was very insightful actually. I think it is the most you've said about how you have been feeling. I understand you better now, but I am not sure why you feel so responsible and guilty over what happened to you?"

He had a feeling he had seen the letter and part of him was grateful that it did explain so much of what was going through his head that day. But that other part felt foolish again for even writing such a thing. He lowered his eyes to avoid the doctor's intense gaze.

"I guess I feel that way because I was not smart enough to figure out who she was before she snared me. I am an investigator. I should have seen a sign."

"Can you tell me what happened exactly that night at the club?"

"I guess. I went in and sat at the bar. At first I just had a drink and watched the crowd. Then I looked around more closely at my surroundings and I saw…you know she was really attractive with that long red-haired wig on." He scowled at himself for even admitting it now.

Dr. Rayon nodded. "I understand. I saw her. I can see how you would have been attracted to her."

"Yeah well, she was checking me out and so I checked her out. I remember I had to make the move on her, she was acting all coy but lots of women do that, you know?"

Dr. Rayon smiled at him. "You don't need to explain to me how women act sometimes. I study the human psyche remember?"

"Ah yeah, sure, sorry. Anyway I went up to her and we did little introductions and talked a bit. Then she said she wanted to go to a quieter location and we got this corner table. I should have figured out why she was moving things along so fast because before I know it we are making out and then I drink some of my drink and start feeling weird. By the time she got me in my car I knew what was happening but the drug had taken over and I was helpless. Next thing I remember was waking up in that cellar; all exposed, bruised and bloodied." Greg's voice had become thick with emotion and he rubbed his hands over his face. His eyes started getting moist.

"See I knew this was going to happen," he said as he sniffled.

"What?" Dr. Rayon wondered what he was talking about.

"Once I started opening up I would become this emotional mess that I am now," he empathetically told him.

"Greg, it's okay to be emotional, actually it is good. It goes to show you had been bottling all of this up before. I'm not judging you just remember that. I know that you went through something extraordinarily tough. I am not expecting you to be all macho about what you went through. I expect what you are showing me now. There is nothing wrong with the way you are feeling, except you wanting to end your life."

Greg quirked his mouth, "I'm okay today," he said sheepishly.

"Okay? Want to clarify that for me?"

He rolled his head back and sighed. "I'm not going to seek out a way to kill myself is what I mean."

"Why do I have a feeling there is a 'but' somewhere?" The doctor watched as Greg met his gaze again.

"But," he stressed the word. "I'm still not sure any of this is really going to help me."

Dr. Rayon pondered a moment. "Okay well let me ask you this, what do you think you are doing here? Do you feel like you are being forced to see me?"

"No, not really. You are helping me, I guess. I mean I was hoping for a faster pace. I know it sounds stupid. In all honesty, I've been so jumbled up I do not know what I want or expect. I just know I hate how people look at me now, like they are expecting me to breakdown or go crazy or something. I guess that is why I've been holding back because I knew that once I actually did let it all out I would be a mess and prove them all right."

"You've hardly really been out, except to the police station and the lab, where you tried to avoid everyone anyway. Has it been that bad at those places? They are your friends. You've worked with them for years. I am sure they are just concerned for you, that is what people do."  
He groaned. "I know it just really gets to me though."

"People tell me that you use to hardly let things get to you, they said you were happy-go-lucky. I know what you went through was horrific but do you think you will never be able to be happy again?"

Greg picked at his nails. "I don't know."

Dr. Rayon sighed. It was like pulling teeth or something. "Why?"

"I guess I could be. I think I should try not to rule it out but overall I am doubtful. I mean I will probably never be able to fall in love with anyone again," he shrugged.

"I don't believe that. You know what? I am going to have you observe one of my group sessions. I think you can learn from these others that life does go on and you can be happy again."

Greg looked at him cautiously. "Maybe…as long as I am just observing."

The doctor was glad he was open to it. "Good, I will call you with details on it tomorrow. I think we'll end early since it had been a long day for you."

"Thanks. My parents will be happy."

"Your parents?" Dr. Rayon wondered what he meant.

"Uh yeah, they insisted on driving me here after having the MRI and all," he said much to his chagrin.

"Well, you are their only child and they almost lost you twice in about a month. I think it is only natural that they would want to watch over you."  
"I know I've put them through hell and that is why I'm not arguing with them."

"Okay, well enjoy the rest of your evening and I will be in touch with you tomorrow." Dr. Rayon stood up and walked with Greg to his office door.

"Thanks Doc for being patient with me," Greg said sincerely.

"You're welcome, Greg. Have a good night."

Greg met up with his parents out in the lobby. His dad came up to him. "Are you up for going out to dinner?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," he replied, not wanting to go out and have to deal with people that night.

His father gave him a stern look. "You need a good meal and you need to stop being afraid of going out. So we are going. Now I will let you pick where we go but we are going."

Greg swallowed hard; surprised his father was being so forceful and treating him like a child still. "Okay, I'll go," he huffed.

He ended up picking a restaurant he had not been to before, figuring he hopefully would not run into anyone he knew.

His parents steered clear of conversation about him and filled him in on stories from home and of their lives. He appreciated their focus away from him. He was felling like an almost normal person until they were walking out to the car after their meal. He passed this couple probably in their forties when he noticed them staring at him and whispering something to each other. He could feel their eyes on him still as they got to his car.

He spun around suddenly and yelled. "What are you staring at?"

The couple shrieked back and apologized. "Sorry, nothing. We just thought we recognized you but we are mistaken." They ran into the restaurant embarrassed.

"Greg! What the hell was that for?" His father yelled at him.

Greg looked at his father and mother's shocked faces and felt ashamed suddenly.

"They were staring at me and talking about me, probably recognized me from the news and knew," he tried explaining.

"Get in the car. We'll talk in there on the ride home," his father demanded.

Once in the car, Greg felt incredibly guilty and did as told. He sat in the backseat next to his mom while his dad drove. His mother spoke up. "There is no excuse for how you treated those people. So what if they were looking at you and talking about you? People talk about other people everyday. We did not raise you that way," she scolded him.

He looked away out the window, feeling like he was a kid again getting in trouble. "I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me. That's why I did not want to go out."

His mother could hear the guilt in his voice. He was never able to hide it from them. She sighed as she remembered he just tried to take his life and he still had those feelings in him somewhere. She put her hand on his chin and turned his face toward her. She saw his big brown eyes fill with tears, something she rarely saw him do until recently.

"Son, we aren't trying to be hard on you. We just don't want you to always be worried about what others think of you now. We don't want you to be afraid to go out in public for the rest of your life for fear of what you think people might be thinking or saying about you. They are strangers. Who cares what they think? It will just be a passing moment for them, but for you it will be another chink in your armor, slowly breaking you apart more and more."

"I know. I can't help it right now. I'm trying but…I'm sorry," he said as he started weeping.

She drew her son over to her, letting him weep on her shoulder. She rubbed her hand over his back. "Oh Greg, we love you. We just want a bit of our old son back."

His father spoke. "You don't know how terrifying it is to get the call that your son is in a coma because he was taken by some crazy woman who tortured him. That call was bad enough, but what was even worse was hearing that he tried to kill himself and nearly succeeded. Your mother and I felt so horrible for leaving you when we did, so guilty, wondering where we went wrong. We wondered why you did not call us to lean on. It still hurts us that you kept your move from the lab to being a CSI from us for so long. Where did we go wrong with you, son?"

He lifted his head, looking at both of his parents, shocked. "You've done nothing wrong. You were always there for me. It's my fault I didn't tell you. I just did not want to disappoint you, but it seems I did." He said somberly.

They arrived at his place. Once his dad parked the car he turned around to face Greg. "No, you misunderstand. We are the ones who feel that we've disappointed you in some way."

Greg shook his head. "No, no you two are great and have always been there for me. I…I've thoroughly messed up. I did not realize how much I've hurt you both. I'm sorry. Maybe you would have been better off if I had died," he said in a whisper.

His parents looked at each other in alarm and fear. "God, Greg! No! We would never be better off without you. You are our life. Don't you know that? We love you more than you will ever know. It would kill us if you died," his mother cried, grabbing his hands in hers.

"Let's take this inside before people notice us in the car," Mr. Sanders finally said.

Greg moped on ahead, feeling a headache brewing as he realized how stupid and selfish he had been acting. Everything had been about him. He never really thought anyone would be as upset as they all seemed to be over his suicide attempt. He felt miserable.

He unlocked his door and walked in ahead of his parents. He threw his keys on the table and slumped down on his couch. He looked up at his parents who were watching him carefully. "I'm sorry. I've been selfish and thoughtless. I've been a horrible son."

They both say down next to him. "No, you have not been. You've just been put through hell and back. We know nothing has been easy for you. We are just worried about loosing you. That would be the worst thing for us," his father told him.

"You worry us when you get so depressed now and distant. We fear you might try to take your life again," his mother added; deep frown lines on her face.

"I'm better. I won't try it again. I was in a bad place from seeing her and the photos and all but I'm not there now. I sat there for like an hour it seemed, holding that gun in my hand. I couldn't even really do it then. Dr. Rayon and you two have made me take things into perspective. I won't hurt you again, I promise." He looked sincerely at both of them.

"Okay that makes me feel somewhat better," his mother smiled at him, her brown eyes glistening from unshed tears.

"I agree. Why don't we just sit and relax some? Act like a family and watch a movie or something?" His father suggested.

"I'm sorry but I am going to have to pass and turn in early. My head is throbbing so I rather just lay down after I take my pills," Greg told them somberly.

"Well then lay down if you have a headache. We will just stay up a bit longer and be quiet out here."

"Okay and thanks." He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and then hugged his dad. He made a pit stop in the kitchen to take his pills and then disappeared into his bedroom.


	26. Talking Goes A Long Way

A/N-Sorry for the delay. I've been working a lot and forget to post. Here is the next chapter. :) It's a bit shorter than the last few.

* * *

A few days had passed and Greg had visits from most of his fellow CSI co-workers. Nick and Grissom still showed greater concern for him than the others since they did know of his suicide attempt.

Catherine had asked him when he planned on coming back to work. He had not thought much about it yet, but he was beginning to think working would take his mind off things. But today he had to worry about attending the group session, which he was leery of even though he was first just observing it.

He came alone. He walked into the room and saw a few people already there chatting. He was grateful when he saw Dr. Rayon coming towards him.

"Glad to see you here, Greg. Are you up for this?" The doctor asked him.

"Yeah I suppose. Can't hurt to try," he shrugged.

"Such enthusiasm," Dr. Rayon smirked at him.

"Hey I'm trying my best here. I'm not as mopey as I was a few days ago." He groaned.

"Hmm, you could have fooled me," Dr. Rayon teased him.

Greg narrowed his eyes at him, knowing the doctor was trying to ease his nerves, but teasing him was not helping.

Dr. Rayon led Greg into the room. He knew Greg had been in better spirits the last couple of days and he was happy to see it.

"Hello everyone. We have a possible new group member here tonight, mostly here to observe and see how this group thing works, like I did with most of you. So you sort of know the routine. This is Greg."

Greg felt uncomfortable as everyone looked at him. There were 5 women and only 1 man there. One female there was the nurse, Marie, from the hospital, so there was one slightly familiar face. She smiled at him, as did the others.

"Uh, hello," he said coyly.

"Hello Greg," they all said in almost unison.

"See they are a friendly group," Dr. Rayon whispered to him.

"There is only one guy besides me here," he whispered back.

"There is another. He has not got here yet."

Greg nodded in response. He took a seat in the circle of chairs. The nurse, Marie, sat down in the chair to the left of him and another female who was probably only about 20 years old sat on the other side of him. He felt a little anxiety build up inside him. He wished there were more men in the group, but overall he knew it was rare for grown men to be a victim of sexual assault unless it was from their childhood. He sighed and gave a small smile to the group as everyone took their seats.

"Okay to fill in Greg here, if you all can introduce yourselves and give a brief explanation of why you are here."

They all nodded, knowing the routine. The girl to the right of him started first and they went around clockwise. She had been raped by an acquaintance of hers from work. She had been attending these sessions for 2 months now.

The next woman was still trying to dealing with the nightmares of the constant sexual assault she dealt with as a child. She had been in the group for a year.

The next woman was another rape victim. The first guy that was originally there was a man who was molested in his childhood and still had issues. Then another woman had been sexually assaulted and beaten by her ex-husband.

The second man had come in and was a small guy. He had recently been released from a two-year stint in prison and had been raped while in prison. Greg felt more of a connection to him, even though his assailant was a man.

Last up was Marie, the nurse who he had during his last stay in the hospital. She had only moved to Las Vegas from Denver a month prior. He could tell that whatever happened to her was still very fresh as she fidgeted a lot and tried holding in emotions.

"I was kidnapped and taken to some desolate location where a man viciously raped me over a couple days. He had stabbed me and left me for dead. When I was found I spent 2 weeks in the hospital. After that I stayed in town but since he had not been caught I could not sleep at night and was going crazy. I have no family left in town so I looked at jobs here in Vegas at the hospitals and found the opening and decided to move here to get away. I could not stand knowing he was still on the loose in that city so I moved away and have been here a bit over a month now."

Greg found it weird how chipper she had seemed at the hospital after what she had been through. Either she was a good actress or at least she had been able to move past it in some respects. It would go to prove that given enough time he would too. He also realized he was lucky that Robin Weaver was in jail and never to get out. He really did not have to worry about her trying to attack him again.

"Now Greg, do you feel up to maybe telling the group here about yourself?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

Greg looked at him suddenly, feeling a bit ambushed. He thought he was just observing. The others all smiled at him, like they had been in his place before. Marie leaned over and whispered to him. "He does this to everyone."

"Greg, it's okay to talk about it. These people will all understand," he told him. The others all nodded in agreement.

Greg felt his stomach lurch. He looked at everyone's eyes on him.

"It can be brief if you want," Dr. Rayon pushed the young CSI.

Greg glared at the doctor a moment before inhaling deeply and slowly letting out the breath. "Uh, I'm Greg and you may have seen the news about me. I'm the only one to survive a series of murders done by a woman who tortured and sexually assaulted her victims." He paused a moment and licked his dry lips.

"I was a CSI working the case before I became one of her victims. She did everything to me that she had done to the others. I don't remember everything because she drugged me half the time. Anyways she killed her victims by a lethal dose of the drug Scopolamine but in my case it did not so here I am, alive," he shrugged, trying to act unaffected by it while inside he felt like he might throw up from his nerves.

"Is there anything else you want to add that happened a few days ago?"

Greg's eyes opened wide in fear. "Uh, not really." He could not figure out why the doctor was bringing that up at this time. He buried his trembling hands in-between his legs.

"Greg, I can assure you that you are not the only one in this room who has done that. They will all understand," Dr. Rayon told him in a soothing manner.

He felt put on the spot as they all had their sympathetic but understanding eyes on him. He felt a migraine brewing and his stomach was still churning. The doctor wanted him to talk about his suicide attempt. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"Whatever is said in this room is confidential between all of us, isn't that right everyone?" Dr. Rayon clarified.

They all nodded or said yes. "It's okay, Greg. None of us will judge you. We've all been through our own personal hells," said Karen. She was in her 50's, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She was the one who was assaulted by her ex-husband.

He looked at her and found trust in her eyes. He took a shaky breath and lowered his eyes from all the ones staring at him. "Dr. Rayon is referring to my sticking a gun to my head and trying to kill myself 6 days ago." He kept his eyes downward as they moistened up.

"Looking back on it now, I realize what a huge mistake I almost made. I was selfish and not thinking about how my friends and family would be affected by my death. I have since realized that would have been the worst thing I could have ever done. I want to live now."

"I've tried to kill myself twice. Most recently 5 weeks ago," Ted said. He was the man who was raped in prison. "I slit my wrists the first time. I still got the scars."

"I tried to overdose on pain medication," Karen told him.

Greg looked up and realized suddenly that Dr. Rayon was right. He was not alone in what he was going through. Now he understood why the doctor wanted him to take part in the group therapy.

"See what I told you, Greg. There are others that understand the feelings you are having," Dr. Rayon told him.

He nodded. "Yes, I see that now." He looked around the room. "Thanks everyone." He offered a small smile.

"So I guess you will take part in these group sessions from now on?" The doctor asked him.

"Sure," he replied, truly meaning it.

"Good, now onto other stuff." Dr. Rayon went onto ask the others if there was anything on their minds really bothering them that they wanted to talk about.

The meeting went on about another thirty minutes. Greg's head was aching now so he was glad when the meeting was over. He wanted to go home and lay down. Even though his nerves had died down some, he still was a bit uneasy.

The doctor came up to him before he was about to leave. "So you feeling better about this group stuff now?"  
"Yeah, I do. Just let me know when they are scheduled. I'm going to get going now though. I've got a migraine brewing and my meds are at home," he told him.

"I thought you were looking a little unwell. I thought maybe I was a little forceful on you, but glad you spoke up now. Okay I will call you later and tell you when the next session is, but we are still having our regular one-on-ones too."

"I know I'm fine with that. I really do want to try to move on with my life now. This has helped. I guess you were right. Thanks Dr. Rayon," Greg shook the doctor's hand and headed to the door after saying goodbye.

"Hey Greg! You want to join a few of us for some lunch?"

He turned around and Marie was standing there with her green eyes smiling at him. "I'm sorry. I'll have to pass. I'm not feeling too good, maybe next time. Goodbye." He left quickly because he was starting to feel a bit nauseous. He needed to get home and take his meds and hit the sheets.

Dr. Rayon came behind Marie, seeing Greg take off quickly. She turned around to face him.

"I just asked him to join us for lunch," she frowned. "He said he was not feeling well."

"Don't take it personally. He was telling the truth. He gets migraines ever since his attack," Dr. Rayon told her.

"Oh that was why he was having the MRI in the hospital, to rule out anything else more serious. I remember now. That sucks though. Poor guy," she remarked looking at the door that he had left out of.

Dr. Rayon grinned a bit at her. "You like him, don't you?"

She looked embarrassed all of the sudden. "Well, I um, I think he's cute, that's all. And well he seems like a decent guy compared to most I meet."

"You've been going out to meet guys again?" He did not think she had been ready yet.

She looked down. "Um, no. I haven't. I was meaning past tense. I'm still leery of meeting strangers."

"Understandable, but one of these days…"

"Yes, I know. I know. You tell me every time. So did Dr. Matthews," she sighed heavily.

He smiled at her. "As long as you are making progress, which I know you are. Enjoy the rest of your day. I need to get back to the hospital. I'll see you tomorrow."

Marie smiled at him and said goodbye. Then she joined a few of the other girls for lunch.


	27. Coming Back

**A/N-Only a couple more chapters left after this one. Again thanks for the positive reviews. But keep them coming :) I probably will not post another one until this weekend. So enjoy while you can. :D**

* * *

He looked at the door nervously before knocking on it. He came in early knowing he could avoid the others. He did not want to talk to them until he talked to his boss. He finally knocked on the door.

"Come in," his supervisor's voice carried through the door.

He walked in and saw Grissom's surprised expression. "Greg! I was not expecting you. I have not seen you in a few days. You look well."

Greg smiled a bit. "Thanks. I'm feeling better, a lot better than I have in a while and that's partially why I am here." He took a seat across from Grissom's desk.

"Yeah. I know Dr. Rayon talked to me yesterday and told me he thought you were making very good progress. He says the group sessions have been helping a lot too."

Greg smiled again. "Yes, I've been to a few of them. It has helped me a lot. Right now I'm here for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to know what my chances are at getting back to work, if I still have the job," he added cautiously.

Grissom raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was not expecting him to want to come back to work so soon. "When did this come about?"

"What, me wanting to return to work? Well, Doc Rayon keeps telling me I need something to take my mind off of everything and I think getting back to work where I can shift my focus back to cases will help me."

Grissom smiled. "Well, I would love to have you back but of course I have to go through Ecklie who is going to talk to Dr. Rayon. Do you think he will think you are ready to come back?"

Greg bit his lip. "I think he will. I've been really open with my feelings lately. He knows I've been thinking about it. I guess what worries me more is my tendencies to get migraines a lot. I mean that and all the medications I am on now." He sighed. "Ecklie probably won't like that I am on Prozac."

Grissom could see why he was worried. Ecklie seemed to have issues with anyone on his staff being on any medication but he hoped in Greg's situation he would let it pass.

"Well as for your migraines, I can relate. I get them once in a while you probably did not realize."

Greg shook his head. "No, I did not know."

"Well, I am good at hiding it when I have them. As for your being on Prozac, I can clearly see it has made a difference in you. I will do what I can to facilitate your return to the job. I think it would be good for you to get back into work too. Everyone has missed you and been asking about you."

"Yes, I've missed everyone too. I plan on saying hi to everyone before I leave today." He thought for a moment. "If Ecklie does allow me back, he'll be watching me like a hawk, won't he?"

Grissom was not going to lie to him. "You know he will be, but only at first, I'm sure. As long as you are going about your job correctly you should have no problems."

"Good, I don't plan on any problems," Greg smiled.

"Nice to hear. You had something else you wanted to tell me?" Grissom asked him.

"Uh yeah. I just thought you should know I plan on visiting Robin Weaver in jail," he said nonchalantly.

Grissom removed his glasses and looked at him with sudden concern. "Does Dr. Rayon know of your decision?"

"Yes, we talked about it earlier today. We both feel I can deal with her better this time. She can't surprise me with anything anymore. She can't hurt me anymore, I know that," he said in confidence.

"I hope you are right. I don't want to see what happened last time happen again," Grissom told him straight.

Greg lowered his head a second. "You mean me trying to kill myself." He raised his big brown eyes up to meet Grissom's again. "I know that had to be hard to see, me holding that gun to my head. I'm sorry you and Nick had to see that but thank goodness you did otherwise I don't know if I would be here today. I know it is something none of us will ever forget. Perhaps it's damaged your overall trust in me, but I can assure you I do not have those feelings anymore. It's been two weeks and I've had a lot of time to absorb what happened that night. I want to be here now and that's one reason I'm going to see her, to tell her she lost and I won," he said with pride.

Grissom was seeing a glimmer of the old Greg back in his eyes. It made him feel good. "I'm glad to hear you being positive again. And I trust you Greg. We all have our moments of weakness and we saw you at your lowest, but I can see that phase has passed."

Greg's cheeks turned pink and he bit his lower lip. "Thanks for saying you still trust me. I appreciate that, I just hope I never disappoint you again."

"You don't disappoint me. I wish you did not think that you do or ever have. I'm not perfect and never have claimed to be. I've definitely made my mistakes, but I do appreciate your respect nonetheless. So when do you plan on going to see her?"

Greg got over his slight abashment and cleared his throat. "I am planning on going tomorrow."

"Is anyone going with you?" Grissom asked, feeling a bit protective of Greg.

Greg shook his head. "No, just me." He noticed Grissom's brows furrow together. "I will be fine. I have self-respect and self-preservation in mind again. And I will talk to Dr. Rayon afterward anyway; he did make me promise to. It will not be like last time. I'll have the upper hand this time."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that. I guess your doing well then all around." Grissom smirked.

There was a knock on the door. "It's Nick." He announced.

"Come on in," Grissom said after a non-verbal nod from Greg telling him he was done.

"Greg! Hey I didn't know you were here." Nick had been avoiding Greg lately, still unable to shake the image of him trying to kill himself.

He stood up. "Well, I had to talk to Grissom but I planned on sticking around to say hello to everyone else too."

"That's good, G. I just will come back and talk to you later then, Grissom," Nick said, not wanting to interrupt.

"No, I think we are done here, right Greg?" Grissom asked for confirmation.

"Yep. Just let me know what you hear on the first part and I will fill you in on how it goes tomorrow. I'll just head over to break room now. Thanks Gris."

"You're welcome, Greg. I'll be in touch soon."

Nick waited until he was gone before he spoke to his supervisor. "What's that about?"

"He's ready to come back to work."

"Yeah? That's great but does he seem ready to you?"

"I think he is ready, surprisingly. I think he needs to get back to some normalcy and this would be a big step."

"Well, that's great then. Hopefully Ecklie will feel the same way."

"We'll see," Grissom surmised.

- - - - - -

Greg got a soda out of the vending machine and took a seat at the break room table. He knew everyone came in there once their shifts started.

Nick walked in a couple minutes later. He saw Greg and stopped a second. He still could not get the image of Greg in his room about to blow his head off.

"Hey Nick, how've you been?" Greg asked him casually.

He came in and sat down across from Greg. He could not hide his feelings anymore about that night. He figured since Greg seemed better now was a time to confront him. "How can you act like nothing happened? You tried to kill yourself right in front of me?"

Greg sat up straight in his chair, surprised and hurt. He leaned in. "Nick, someone else could overhear you. I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I swear. I know we have not talked much since then but I'm doing better, I am. Please, I'm sorry you had to see that and do what you had to do, but I owe you. I owe you big time." His voice was thick with emotion, as tears almost threatened. He had not realized how upset Nick had been with him.

Nick had not meant to upset Greg but he could see that he had somewhat. "Look, I'm sorry, G. I don't want to upset you. I just can't shake that image of you out of my head. But I am glad you are doing better and trying to come back to work. I just worry about you. I want to see some of the old Greg back."

"I'm trying to, Nick. I really am. I think getting back to work will help me some. And maybe if we can talk like we use to it would help too."

Nick smiled, grateful Greg was trying to get back to some normalcy. He remembered how it was for him after his being buried alive, it was not easy but Greg was one of the ones who tried to treat him like normal and not with kid gloves. "Okay, I think I can try that for you."

He nodded gratefully, glad he was forgiving. "Thanks Nick. So how are things with the girlfriend? Are you two still hot and heavy?"

Nick grabbed a cup of coffee and laughed. "I guess we have been out of touch, haven't we? I haven't been with her in like a month."

"Really? What happened?" Greg asked curiously.

"She complained we did not see enough of each other. We work different schedules and with you gone we've been doing overtime."

"Hmm, sorry about that. Hopefully I can pick up some of the slack soon."

"I hope so. It will be nice to have you back."

"Greg, did I hear that right? You might be coming back soon?" Warrick asked as he came in. He gave Greg a pat on the back. "You are looking good."

He smiled. "Thanks! Yep, I just told Gris I would like to come back. He had to talk to Ecklie of course, though."

"Ecklie would be stupid not to bring you back," Warrick told him.

"Greg! I thought I heard your voice." Catherine came in. Greg stood up and gave her a hug, the first one since his abduction.

She was glad he was comfortable around her again. "So good to see you here. We've really missed you. So when are you coming back?" She asked him after they broke their embrace.

He chuckled a little since everyone was asking him the same question. "As soon as they let me. I'm ready. I'm sick of going between therapy sessions and my apartment and not doing much else. At least when my parents were still here, they took me out to dinner, shows, and stuff. Now I just sit home and play video games or listen to music mostly."

"Well then we will definitely light a fire under Ecklie's butt to get you back to work," Catherine told him with a smile.

"Thanks, all of you for your support. I appreciate it." He looked at Nick specifically and added. "I really do."

Nick smiled back at the personal acknowledgement. "I'm glad we've been able to help."

They chatted for a little bit about some cases they were working but then they had to leave to work.

Greg decided to head into the DNA lab to see his old home and say hi to Wendy. When he came to the entrance he stopped a moment seeing Hodges in there talking to Wendy.

Wendy spotted him in the doorway. "Greg!" She looked shocked, as did Hodges who stood next to her.

"I was just swinging by to say hello and see how things were going. Hodges," he nodded at the Trace lab tech, wondering if he was keeping his promise to Grissom.

"Sanders, so you finally decided to grace us with your presence again. Let me break out the champagne," Hodges sneered.

Greg smirked. "Glad to see some things have not changed around here."

Wendy nudged Hodges, catching his sarcastic tone. "So will you be back soon?" She asked him.

"Hopefully. That's why I came in today. I spoke with Grissom about it," he said.

"Well, hope you can be back soon. We missed seeing your smile around here," she said to him.

"Speak for yourself," Hodges muttered.

Greg smirked; glad to see some people still acting fairly normal around him. "Well, I'll let you two get back to work. I know how hard it is for Hodges to stay focused with you around." He gave a Hodges a mischievous grin and then waved to Wendy. "Bye," he left them and headed home.


	28. And the Winner is

_A/N-Well the story is coming to a close now. Only one chapter after this one :( But again thanks for everyone's great reviews. Just want to comment on a couple. _

_Anymousie-Nothing is wrong with people being on Prozac. My mom has been on it for years and I am grateful that she has been because I know what she was like before she was on it. I just wrote what I did for story purposes. _

_Foster WPL-Wow, thanks for your praises. I think there are better writers than me out there but I do my best and try to keep my stuff real. _

_101spacemonkey-Thanks for always reviewing and being so positive. Again thanks to everyone else too. :D_

_Now on with this chapter._

* * *

He walked into the visitor's room alone and took a seat. He was nervous but not as much as he was the last time. He had more confidence in himself this time around. He ran a hand through his hair that was getting too long for his style.

He saw the door open and tensed up. She was led through the door and looked surprised when she laid her eyes on him. He had asked them not to tell her who her visitor was.

She had been surprised she had a visitor when they told her. The only person who ever came to see her was her lawyer. She had no friends or family anymore. Seeing Greg shocked her. His appearance did a bit too. He looked rested, very different from the stressed out, almost sickly looking man she saw last time.

They both remained silent as she sat down and waited for the guard to lock her cuffed wrists down to the table. She held his strong gaze as the guard left the room.

"Just ring when you are done," the guard said as he left.

Greg nodded at him then turned his full attention to the woman who almost ruined his life completely. Her hair was getting longer, completely making her scar invisible. She looked tired and not nearly as cocky as she had the last time.

"I'm surprised to see you here, my pet," she smirked. "Did you miss me that much?"

A small smirk formed on his lips. "Your term of endearment does not bother me anymore. I'm not your pet. I'd say you're the bitch on a leash now, chained to a table."

She opened her hazel eyes wide in surprise. He had got back some of his attitude that she first encountered with him before she had broken him down. She cleared her throat. "Well, aren't you feeling all confident now. Quite different from when you were screaming like a girl when I had you under my thumb," she said snarkily.

His jaw twitched as he held control over his building anxiety. "I'm not like you, like you seemed to think I was. You were wrong about me. I did crack some but unlike you, I have people in my life who care about me, who love me and were there to support me. That is the huge difference between you and me. You have no one," he said coldly. Then he saw it. He had hit a chord in her. Her cockiness completely disappeared. Her face fell and she lowered her eyes.

When she did not say anything for a minute he spoke again. "How long did your father abuse you?" His voice was softer this time.

She looked up at him and he was surprised to see her eyes moist.

"I was nine the first time he came into my bedroom late at night and touched me inappropriately. I had not been taught to know better though. My mother was long gone. It was not until I entered high school that I found out what he was doing to me was wrong. I was home schooled up to that point. He kept a tight lease on me, never letting me go out hardly. I mean I know it was weird what he was doing to me and I hated the feeling I had from it, but legally I had no idea and by the time I did I was too scared of him to say anything to anyone. But I did start resisting and he became angry and then the beatings started. He would use his belt at first. After awhile he was so furious with me he chained me up in the garage to sleep overnight."

He noticed she shivered and held her head low, avoiding his gaze. He was shocked at how suddenly her wall had broken down. Maybe it was the month and a half in jail she had spent already and probably because she realized she had lost and did have no one.

"How did you get the scar on your head?" He asked her, seeing as she was opening up to him.

Her red-rimmed eyes lifted. He could see the pain and suffering she had hid so well before. She did not look like the monster he had come to know.

"I really don't remember. I was told I had a serious skull fracture. They found a bloody crow bar in my dad's trunk. The scar is from the surgery. You can figure it out, you're a crime investigator," she said somewhat snidely.

He sighed, seeing the woman he knew before reemerge in her eyes and words. She was right though, he was a crime scene investigator.

"So since you could not physically get back at your father, you decided to take all your rage out on complete strangers. You did everything to them compared to what he did to you, only times one hundred. But then you did the one thing you wish your father had done to you, you killed them so they would not have to suffer the rest of their lives like you have. Is that about right?" He asked, totally sounding like he was talking to a regular suspect.

She cocked her head at him, fascinated by his acute awareness of everything but the obvious fact. "You talk like nothing happened to you. Separating yourself from the situation, saying 'they'. Denial is a bad thing, you should know that," she sneered.

He smirked. "I'm not in denial, believe me. I suppose I could have said 'us' but I am alive, the others are not. So I am slightly different from them as you reminded me last time."

She stared at him intensely, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. "I could tell you were different from the moment you woke up at my place." She tried to reach her hand out to him. He edged back but her handcuffs stopped her anyway.

"Did you see the photos I took?" She said as she licked her lips.

He knew she was trying to rattle him again but he was not going to fall for it this time. "Yes I did. Why the photos?" He asked coolly.

She shrugged; annoyed he was not getting bothered by her yet. "I had plans to send them to your cop friends once I had moved on to another city. You know, as a reminder of my deeds and that they still had not caught me. Obviously I had no plans of you being alive today."

Greg shrugged. "Sorry, I guess I was not ready to die yet. But why did you pick me?" He asked her finally, needing to know.

"You were alone and cute and seemed to be looking to get laid. I knew you would fall for my act right away."

"Well maybe you had me pegged that night but not anymore. I will not let you bother me anymore."

"But I will still always be with you in someway. I bet you have some nice scars on your body. And just think, if you ever try again to have sex, I know you will remember me then," she said with some glee.

He took a slow, deep breath to keep his cool. Thank goodness the meds he was on did their job in keeping him cool and collected overall.

"Yes, I'll be thinking of you rotting away in jail here while I am able to live free and do whatever and whoever I please," he responded with a smug smile.

"My, this side of you really turns me on, Greg," she said then laughed maliciously.

The laugh did not surprise him but she used his name again, which did surprise him. "So no more 'pet' I see. You saying my name makes me feel like I did win this battle. I mean you're locked up for life. No friends, no family, no future and you know you have no control over me anymore."

She had not realized she said his name and his words were sinking in finally.

"I can see by the fear growing in your eyes that I am right," he added.

She looked away from him as she truly started to realize she had no control over anything in her life anymore. She could see her father laughing at her now.

"If you would have got some help, perhaps you would not be where you are now. I did not want help but then I realized that once I got it and opened up, it was the best release of the anger and fear and self-hatred you left me with. Some still lingers but I know with time and with the love and support of my family and friends, I will be okay." He knew now that he would never be like her, never be so cold-hearted as she had become. He realized she was holding back tears now.

"Maybe someday you can let go of your hatred and the monster will be gone, but unfortunately it will be too late for you to truly be free. Someday, perhaps you can still find some sort of peace though."

She was still looking away so he stood up to leave. He rang the bell for the guard. As the guard came to the door to take her away and Greg had his back towards her, she spoke. "I'm sorry."

Greg stopped dead in his tracks, not believing his ears. He did not turn around. He just stood there at the door.

"I really am sorry. I picked wrong. You are one of the good guys. You did not deserve what I did to you."

Then he heard her start sobbing. He swallowed hard, unable to turn around and give her forgiveness that she was probably seeking. Yes, she was damaged and that was probably a major reason why she did what she did, but still she took too much joy in torturing him and the others and that was unforgivable. His scars and emotions were still too raw to go that far. He finally grabbed the door handle and opened it up and walked away from her for good.

--

He listened to the others talk about their newest nightmares that plagued their sleeping patterns. His own nightmares had not been too bad, but Dr. Rayon told him his medication was one reason they were not too bad. His migraine medication helped him sleep deeper without many dreams.

He was still thinking about his last visit with Robin Weaver when Dr. Rayon got his attention. "It's your turn, Greg. Do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?"

Greg had told the Doc a little about his visit with Robin and how it went over the phone. He knew he was going to bring it up during the group session.

He noticed all eyes turned on him and it still made him feel uneasy. "I went to see my attacker in jail yesterday. Last time I confronted her, she taunted me and the next day I tried to take my own life because I let what she said get to me. So now that I have a renewed confidence in myself, I decided to see her again," he told them.

"And how did it go this time?" Dr. Rayon asked him.

Greg looked directly at him. "I controlled the conversation. She tried to antagonize me but I pushed it away like I should have before. I ended up getting more out of her than I had before, about her past. I ended up being the cold one and broke down her barriers. She broke down, crying and apologized to me."

He lowered his head, almost feeling bad about not accepting it now.

The doctor stared at Greg, as did the others. He had not been told about the apology before. He noticed Greg was bothered by it. "Did you accept it, the apology?"

Greg shook his head, still staring at his shoes. "No, I couldn't. I'm not sure I ever can. It's just…it's too hard to let go of all that she did. Does that make me a bad person?" He asked, finally looking at the doctor again, avoiding the others.

Dr. Rayon smiled a bit and shook his head. "No, that makes you human, Greg. Besides it's only been like 2 months since she first started her torture on you. But in a way it is good to know you broke through to her. She made some sort of human connection to you again instead of being seen as her pet."

"She said she was sorry because she could now tell I was one of the good guys, not someone who would hurt her physically but I told her she had no one and never would. I was rather harsh," he admitted.

"You were angry and had every right to be and you were probably right and that is why it reached down to her core. Don't feel guilty about it. You've punished yourself enough with guilt already," Dr. Rayon advised him.

Greg swallowed and gazed at the doctor. "I know. I am trying not to."

"I think we all blame ourselves in some respects for what happened, even though truly we are not to blame, but at least it means we have a conscience," Erica said. She was the young girl who had sat next to him at the first meeting.

"That is true and maybe you will find it easier to deal with what happened to you now, knowing she feels guilt about it. The ones that show no remorse leave you feeling even colder and more scared," Dr. Rayon said.

Marie rubbed her arms, knowing exactly what Dr. Rayon was saying. "I'm still scared, knowing my attacker is out in this world somewhere. I always wonder if he knows I moved here and has followed me. You have some closure at least." She stared at Greg.

He could see the fear in her eyes as he gazed back. "You're right. I wish it could be that way for everyone, but working the job I do, I know many do not get it."

"That's also true, so we do what we can and try to live our lives," Karen said to the group. They all nodded.

Dr. Rayon wrapped up the meeting and then pulled Greg aside a moment afterward. "I see you want to go back to work ASAP?"

Greg nodded. "I miss putting the bad guys away. I need to feel that power again. I miss that rush."

Dr. Rayon smiled. "Well that was a better response than I planned on getting. I was worried you just wanted to bury your issues with work."

Greg cocked his head with questioning. "Am I not making decent progress? Being open enough?"

"Oh on the contrary, you've become very open. I think group therapy has helped you the most."

He shrugged. "Well like you told me and I did not see until I got here, I am not the only one who has issues and feelings like I do."

"No, you are not. Anyway, I got an evaluation request from your supervisor. I think you are ready to go back to work, as long as you keep attending our sessions and stay on your meds for now. Gradually we will try weaning you off of them, but not yet. Some people need them for the rest of their lives. You might be a case like that due to the chemical imbalance we saw from the MRI from the damage the high doses of Scopolamine gave you, but it should not hinder your job performance."

Greg felt a little confused. "So you are saying if I go off the Prozac, I might go all wonky and suicidal again?"

"No, not necessarily but given the migraines and other results from your MRI, you might go back into an extreme depression. I just want you to be aware of the possibility."

Greg frowned. "So the drug messed up my mental health in other words. It may not have killed me but it still did something to me."

"We think so, but again we will try weaning you off and see how it goes. As for now, I am letting your supervisor know you are capable of handling your job and if at anytime you have troubles, let me know."

"Okay, thanks Doc. I think," Greg quirked his mouth after that rather slightly depressive conversation.

"You'll be fine, just take it day by day." Dr. Rayon smiled at him and then left Greg pondering everything that was just said to him.

* * *


	29. One Day At A Time

_A/N- Well here it finally is, the final chapter. I meant to post it earlier in the week but forgot. Sorry! I want to thank everyone for the glorious reviews you all left. I am so glad to know that something I do as a hobby is appreciated so much by others. So I hope this last chapter is a satisfying enough ending, it is a long chapter. :) _

* * *

Greg was just about to leave the meeting to grab lunch when he heard his name called out. He turned around and saw the sweet face of Marie gazing at him.

"Yes?"

"Uh, the others aren't able to go out to lunch today but I was wondering if you still wanted to go. I know I skipped breakfast and I am starving," she said coyly to him.

He had been out to eat a couple times with the group now and was fine with that but being just with her, he was a bit shy about. "I'm not sure."

"Please?" She pleaded with her big eyes and he caved. He knew she was harmless. She was not like Robin Weaver. "Okay, where to today?"

She broke into a smile. "The Rib Shack across the street? Walking distance?"

His stomach growled as if on cue. "Sure that sounds good."

While they ate they talked about their jobs. He learned that she had gone to University of Colorado in Denver and got her nursing degree there. She often took trips to Las Vegas and liked it, so that was why she ended up moving here. He filled her in on his education and career in the LVPD Crime Lab.

They finished up their meal and walked back to the office building. "Looks like it is going to storm," he commented as he looked up at the darkening sky.

"Yeah hopefully the bus will be here before it starts down pouring," she sighed.

"The bus?" He questioned.

"Yeah my car is in the shop so I am taking the bus," she told him.

"I can give you a ride home, if you want," he offered.

"Yeah? That would be great. I hope it's not out of your way."

"I have no plans for the rest of the day so it's okay. I just was going to go home and rest some. I feel a headache brewing, usually happens after a session due to stress."

"Well, I do not want inconvenience you then if you need to rest."

"No, I said I would take you and I will," he told her.

She went ahead and told him where she lived. She lived a good half-hour from the doctor's office building and in the complete opposite direction of where he lived. It had started storming and the driving conditions were getting worse. It was not helping his brewing migraine any.

"There's my apartment complex, on the left," she pointed out to him before he passed it by. She showed him where to park. She noticed he scrunched his eyes shut and rubbed his temples as he put the car in park. He had been quiet on the drive there.

"Yeah headache is worse, isn't it? I got some ibuprofen in my place. If you come up I can get you some. It will help a bit," she suggested.

He looked out the window at the drenching rain and lightning and then at her innocent look. He had a slight fear of going into any stranger's place but he had to push those fears aside if he was ever going to have any normal future. She was not like the crazed woman who had locked him up. He knew that and had to trust that.

"Okay but we better run fast because it is nasty out here," he finally said.

She smiled, glad he was able to trust her because she had her own issues in even asking him into her place which she put aside. "Okay, I'll go first, just follow me."

She opened the car door and ran toward the building to the stairs and ran up. He got out and followed after her. He met up to her just as she opened the door. They went inside quickly to get out of the rain. Despite their running they were both still soaked.

They both dripped on her tile floor. "My God! It's like a monsoon out there," she said as she held her arms around her, shuddering from being wet and cold.

She looked at him and noticed he was scoping out her apartment. It had a decent size living room and a nice kitchen. He could tell she had moved there recently as there were still a couple boxes sitting in the corner, looking to be unpacked but it was fully furnished otherwise.

"Nice place you have here," he mentioned as he looked back at her.

"Thanks, it's nice for what I am use to." She ran a nervous hand through her wet long hair.

"It probably was not the best idea to have you come in after all, now that you are all wet, too," she commented as she noticed his t-shirt sticking to him.

He looked down and had not realized how wet he was too. "Oh yeah, well that is okay."

She felt bad that he got wet. "You know, I have a clothes dryer and you can dry your shirt and wait, you can borrow one of my umbrellas when you leave. I hate to have you get sick."

He thought about taking her up on the offer because he did not want to get sick either, but he remembered his scars and how he still had trouble seeing his own reflection in the mirror. He cleared his throat. "Uh, no. That's um… I'm fine."

She looked at him and saw some fear in his eyes and suddenly realized why. "If you are worried about me seeing your scars, I've already seen them."

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

She grinned. "I'm a nurse! I was there when you came into the ER last time. I guess you do not remember me," she pouted a bit, guessing she was not memorable.

His face flushed a bit. "Oh, sorry I do not remember much from that evening once I got to the hospital. I did not realize you were on duty."

She softened up and came closer to him. "I have my own scars too, from where he stabbed me. Granted it's not as bad as yours are but again, I'm a nurse and I've seen worse. It does not bother me. You have nothing to worry about," she smiled.

He was still a bit skeptical and she could see it. "Look, I'm going to change into dry clothes. You can go into my kitchen; the pills are by the sink. I have water in the fridge. And if you want you can stick around until the storm passes. The clothes dryer is in the closet in the hallway; feel free to put your shirt in it. I have some towels in there too. It's up to you. If I don't see you when I get back, I'll assume you left and then I'll see you at our next group session." With that she walked off into her bedroom, leaving him standing there somewhat dumbstruck.

His head was still throbbing and having to drive in that weather was not a good idea. He rolled his head around and sighed. He went into the kitchen and found her pill bottles. He smirked when he saw a bottle of prescription Lexapro. She was on anti-depressants too. He supposed they all were. Doctors prescribed them way too often these days, but in their cases it was probably correctly prescribed. They had both been through traumatic events and were bound to suffer from some depression.

He took three ibuprofens, knowing two was not strong enough. He opened her fridge and noticed it was mostly empty but for some leftovers and beverages, mostly being bottled water. He grabbed one and took a swig with his pills.

He walked over to her patio door and saw the storm still raging on. He frowned and turned away from it and went down the hall. He found the closet door and opened it up. Her washer and dryer and some towels were there just like she said they would be.

He grabbed a towel and ran it over his head to dry off his hair some. He felt a slight shiver run through his body from the wet shirt he had on. He decided to take his shirt off and just let it dry for a couple of minutes and hopefully put it back on before she came out. Even though she had seen him before without a shirt on he was still uncomfortable with the idea of it.

He was just about to open the dryer to pull the shirt out when Marie came out dressed in shorts and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Her hair was still slightly damp.

She looked him over. "Uh, I see you decided to dry off."

He quickly took the towel he was holding and held it to his chest, as he turned red in the face. "Um, yeah I was just getting my shirt out now." He felt his heart racing as his uneasiness around her got to him.

She watched him fiddle with the dryer door to open it and pull out his shirt. She had a feeling what was going through his mind. She laid her hand on his arm.

He flinched and pulled away from her and then looked at her with apprehension.

"Greg, I'm not going to do anything to you. You have nothing to worry about," she said to him cautiously.

He pulled his shirt back on and turned his back on her. "I better get going." He started walking away.

"You know what Dr. Rayon would say right now?" She yelled after him.

He stopped where he was and sighed. He turned around and looked at her, her eyes showing understanding.

"He would say I can't keep avoiding things forever," he scowled.

She smirked. "He's told me that a few times too. Stick around until the storm passes. I can pop in a movie or something. Just relax. I would kind of like the company anyway. I have not been here long enough to make many friends, just a few acquaintances from work."

He looked down, feeling a bit foolish now. "Okay, sure. I really should not drive while my head is still pounding like it is anyway."

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable on my sofa then. Close your eyes for a bit if you need to. I'll just sit over here," she said as she walked over to her lounge chair, but not before grabbing her laptop off her kitchen table.

Greg went over and sat down on her sofa. It was pretty comfy, better than his actually, he thought. He watched her as she opened her laptop up. "Oh don't mind me, just doing a quick email check. I'm still in contact with people from home. They wish I did not move away but they understand. I have not had as many nightmares since I moved here. I just feel safer for some reason."

"In Sin City?" He quipped.

She chuckled. "I know, odd but true. It's nice to know someone in the police department now, though." She gave him a sly smile.

"Hmmm, I guess it is good to know a person in the medical field too, although I know a few already, I guess," he surmised.

"Yeah I suppose you would with your work." She went back to looking at her computer screen.

He went ahead and closed his eyes for a bit.

When she finished going through her emails she looked up and noticed he seemed to have fallen asleep, so she decided to keep playing around on her computer.

There was a loud crack of thunder that made Greg wake up. He looked over at Marie still on her laptop. "That storm is not letting up," he said to her as he straightened up.

She looked up at him. "Oh you are awake. Yeah I was looking online at the weather; flash flood watch out and severe storm warning."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked out the window. "It's sort of dark out."

"Well you slept for about a couple of hours, so it is later now but still not night exactly."

He looked at the clock on her DVD player. "Oh wow, sorry about that. I did not mean to fall asleep," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay. I just chatted on my computer with a friend," she said as she closed her laptop.

"Okay." He looked over at her side table and saw an older photo of her with he assumed was her parents. He pointed to it and asked, "College graduation photo?"

"Yes, last good photo I have with my parents together. My mom died of breast cancer 10 months later."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that. What happened to your dad?"

"He's still alive but he is in Iraq, a Major in the Army. Been over there for 3 years now. He got to come home for a couple of weeks while I was in the hospital but had to go back. We email each other almost daily. He hated that he could not stick around for me once I was out of the hospital," she said somberly.

"That's rough. I know my parents stuck around for a couple weeks after my attack. Now after my suicide attempt, well I really scared them. They just left 4 days ago."

She looked at him with a shy curiosity. "What was it like?"

He furrowed his brows. "What was what like?"

"Almost pulling the trigger," she said softly.

He realized she must have had suicidal thoughts at one time too. "I know I was scared as hell. I actually surprised myself when I finally went to pull it. Part of me thinks I waited so long to do it because I was hoping someone would come and stop me, which is what ended up happening." He stopped there, thinking back on it.

She noticed he seemed lost in his thoughts. "And the other part of you thought what?"  
His brown eyes looked sadly at her. "The other part of me could not stand looking at myself in the mirror anymore. I hated myself for getting into that situation. I could not sleep or eat; I just did not want to exist anymore. I did not even think much about how my death would affect others." He looked down at his hands and shook his head.

She came over and sat next to him. He gave her a sideways glance in wonder.

"You know I had very similar thoughts, but in my case I thought about my dad. He had lost my mom only 5 years ago and then he is over there in Iraq, risking his life everyday for me. I could not do that to him."

"Are you an only child?" He asked her.

"Yes I am. You too?" She looked surprised he asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess that makes you a better person than me. I did not think much about how my parents would feel," he said solemnly.

"No, I do not think it makes me better just more aware during the moment. If I had not though about my dad, I might not be here right now."

"Well it looks like we have a few things in common then. We both are only children, survived terrible attacks, and are here after all that," he smiled at her.

She returned the smile, blushing a bit under his gaze. Then there was a big crash of thunder and suddenly the power went out. She looked around the much darker room and cursed. "Aww damn it. I hope it does not stay out long." She looked at him. "I really hate the dark since…well you know."

"Ah, well it is only 5 pm, it might be back on before it is dark outside," he told her, noticing her rubbing her arms all of the sudden.

"I hope it is," she shivered suddenly. She gazed at him. "You know I remember it was raining and so cold at one point when he left me alone. I could never tell what time of day it was, he had me blindfolded the whole time so I would not be able to identify him."

He nodded in understanding. "She kept a dim light on but it was always cold on that concrete floor. She wanted me to see her but then again she did not plan on me living."

Marie looked down at her hands. "I think he did not care either way if I lived or died. I think he was just obsessed with me and wanted to show me I was his and he could have me whenever he wanted. He just kept me locked up in that shed, there for whenever he came for me until he decided to just stab me and leave me to bleed to death. I was lucky to be found alive by a farmer."

He noticed she was slightly shaking. He knew that fear and felt for her. He slid his arm around her back and drew her closer to him.

She looked up at him, finding the caring and understanding in his warm eyes. Her eyes moistened up some and she laid her head on his shoulder.

He continued to rub her back. He could not believe how comfortable he felt with her. He never thought he could comfort another so soon after his own ordeal.

"This sucks," she said suddenly.

Startled by her words, he pulled his arm away.

She looked at him and laughed. "Oh no, not you, the power being out and this storm. You know you are free to leave whenever you want to. I assume your headache is better now."

"Yes it is gone but I don't want to leave you alone while the power is still out. I would not feel right about it," he told her honestly.

She blushed a bit and smiled. "Well I appreciate that." She yawned suddenly.

"Sorry, I am usually sleeping around this time. You should know. You work graveyard shift."

"Yeah, I'll need to get back to my old sleeping schedule soon, hopefully. Look, I'll just stay here on the sofa if you want to sleep. I got my iPod in my pocket to keep me entertained while you sleep. If the power comes back on I will wake you and then I will probably be on my way," he offered.

"You really are a sweet guy, aren't you?" She smirked.

It was his turn to blush. He cleared his throat. "Yeah but don't let word get around." He finally grinned.

"I'll see you later on then, sweetie," she giggled when he rolled his eyes at her.

She got up and disappeared behind her bedroom door. His cell phone vibrated and he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Greg, it is Grissom. Am I calling you at a bad time? That storm is bad out there."

He looked at Marie's door. "No, the time is fine. The power is out here but nothing I can't handle. What's up?"

"Well, Ecklie told me he spoke with your doctors today and they told him you were ready to head back to work. He came to me and voiced some concerns but I convinced him you would be fine. So guess what? You can start back to work on Monday if you are ready."

"Really? Wow, thanks Grissom. Yeah Monday will be great. See you at the regular start time then?" His voice carried his enthusiasm.

"Yes Greg and congratulations. I look forward to having you back. Stay out of that storm and I'll see you Monday." Grissom was truly happy for Greg.

"Thanks again, Gris. I appreciate it. Good night." Greg closed up his cell phone and smiled to himself. He looked back at the bedroom door and smiled. He leaned back his head and felt the best he had felt in ages. His future looked brighter than he ever thought it would again.

* * *

_That's all folks! Now if you really want I do have an evil (lol), angsty (my specialty) idea for a sequel to this but I'll see if anyone would be interested in me writing one. My last attempt at a sequel was not as successful as the original so I am hesitant to write one. Thanks for reading!_


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